And We Thought We Were Normal
by Teenaged Author
Summary: Jaycee Carter. Normal 13 year old girl, right? Wrong! Her life's been weird since the day she's been born, and now it's just gotten weirder. Connor/OC, Tratie, Percabeth. Things have strayed from where I originally was taking it, so it doesn't match up with certain facts, or things I may have said in early A/N's that I don't feel like going back to edit.
1. The Arrival

**Hey! Welcome to my life as a demigod! Hope you like it!**

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><p><span>And We Thought We Were Normal<span>

Jaycee Carter. Normal 13 year old girl, right? Wrong! Her life's been weird since the day she's been born, and now it's just gotten weirder. A Goth boy about her age comes in and tells her she's not normal. Well she knew that much, but when he says the gods from the Greek Myths she loved so much are real and still exist, she's not sure what to think. But she believes it. She's had that feeling for a long time now, and it's only being confirmed for her. Now to just survive middle school in New York with her BFF Meg Andrews and her new friend Goth Boy. What could possibly go wrong?

Chapter 1: Arrival

13 Years Ago

It was a normal day in the city of Kokomo, Indiana, when a baby girl was born. Her mother and father were joyous, her older brother curious, and the child crying as the mother calmed her down. But when the father held the child something in his heart told him that she wasn't his own. But he would love her, care for her, and raise her right for the real father of the beautiful baby girl whose name is Jaycee Carter.

Present Day

My alarm woke me up by blaring some Adele song in my ear. This morning it was Set Fire to the Rain, one of my personal favorites. I dragged myself out of bed to get ready for another long and boring day of school. I showered as usual and got dressed. Today I put on a dark blue tank top underneath a ripped up black T-shirt and some ripped black skinny jeans. I slipped on my black All Stars. Now some say I'm Goth, others say I'm Emo. I'm not! I just like this style of clothing! Get a hold of yourselves! After getting dressed, I looked at the clock. 6:50! _Shi_-I mean _Crap_! (I'm not even allowed to cuss in my head! How lame is that?) I'm going to miss the bus! I ran down stairs as fast as I could-nearly knocking down my just waking up older brother, Drew-and on my way out grabbed an apple. I got to the end of the driveway just in time. The bus was just pulling up.

I climbed on, out of breath, and immediately spotted my friend Meg Andrews. She had her head against the window, her blonde hair falling in front of her face, and her eyes closed. I plopped myself down next to her and her eyes opened as fast as lightning, and she nearly jumped out of her seat.

"Oh, it's just you." Meg yawned. I raised an eyebrow.

"'Just you'? Is that the way you greet your best friend?" I teased. Meg rolled her eyes and leaned her head against the window again.

"I just didn't get enough sleep last night. Some really weird dreams."

"Like?"

"Nah, you wouldn't believe me anyways."

"Try me." I mumbled. "Last night I had a pretty crazy dream myself."

"Like?"

"Nah, you wouldn't believe me anyways." I mocked in a voice slightly higher than my own. Meg rolled her eyes yet again, but laughed anyway. I smiled. "I get my braces off today! I get to skip Pre-Algebra with Mrs. Cyr!"

"Awesome! I get my braces off today, too! Only I'm not lucky enough to miss any classes. My appointment's during lunch."

We continued to talk until the bus parked in front of the school and the voice that always said 'It's 7:35, time for school!' came on and we were let off. Together, Meg and I trudged up to the front door of Northwestern Middle School.

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The day went by in a blur. Before I knew it, it was time for lunch. I wish I sat with Meg at her lunch table, but we were assigned different ones, so I took my tray and made my way over to Table 2. I sat in the only seat left, on the far end. The table was full of friends, of course, but I still felt out of place. And I couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen today. Across from me sat Alice Parks, a small, red-headed girl, whose favorite color happened to be green. Next to me sat Vanessa Crumbs, a tall, brown haired girl with glasses who was a little bigger than everyone else.

I ate my lunch half heartedly. My mind wandered places that were familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Somewhere I'd never been but seemed to know. That tended to happen a lot. My feet tapped the floor and my hands started drumming on the table. My friends had grown silent to listen then Lana Austin whispered something to Lacy Miller, and the two started beat-boxing to match the beat I had going. It sounded like a song called Mr. Know-It-All, by Kelly Clarkson. I started to hum the song that was playing in my head.

Soon enough the tables around us silenced and listened to the beat and the humming. And without meaning to, I had started singing the words to the song aloud.

"Mr. Know-It-All, well ya, think you know it all but ya, don't know a thing at all! Ain't it, ain't it something ya'll! When somebody tells you something about you, think that they know you more than you do so ya, take it down another pill to swallow. Mr. Bring-Me-Down, well ya, ya like to bring me down-" I never got to finish, cause just then, Mr. Huckleberry, the principle walked into the cafeteria, and Alice shot across the table and placed her small hand across my mouth. I did the mature thing and licked it.

"I must see Miss Carter and Miss Andrews in my office, please. That is all." He said and then he turned on his heel and left the lunch room. Everyone was still silent. The principle rarely had someone invited down to his office. And those people usually got in trouble. I knew some people were wondering what I did this time, and others were just wondering why Mr. Huckleberry would need to see me _and_ Meg.

Meg rarely got in trouble. The only trouble she's ever gotten into was punching a dude in the gut for cheating on her. It was her first boyfriend too. She'd gotten off easy, but that's the only time she'd ever done something she shouldn't have.

I got out of my chair and followed after the principle, leaving my lunch unattended. It's not like I was going to come back for the pizza anyway.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves as I was heading to the oak door that separated me from possible expulsion. I could still feel everyone's eyes following my every move so I looked behind me to see the empty lobby, and the window revealed an empty hallway.

"C'mon, Jay. You're just nervous about being alone with the principle." I reassured myself. But, as I opened the door, I saw three chairs in front of Mr. Huckleberry's desk. And one of them, was occupied.

"Meg Andrews left to get her braces off during lunch today, sir." I said, my voice playing no emotion at all. I glanced at the boy in one of the chairs. He looked to be about my age, 13, and he was wearing some black jeans, a black shirt with skeleton bones creating words I couldn't read, and an aviator's jacket that was two or three sizes too big.

Mr. Huckleberry was sitting behind his desk as he said, "Yes, I've been informed of that. But thank you. She will join us soon. I contacted her father. They're on their way back." Then he motioned for me to sit. I stayed standing. "This young man is Nico Di Angelo. He will be escorting you and Meg Andrews to Camp, for me."

Now I was confused. What camp? Then a voice behind me voiced my thoughts.

"What camp?" A voice behind me spoke. I turned and saw my best friend behind me. I ran and gave her a hug. She flashed me a smile to show me her newly straightened, braces-free teeth. I laughed and returned one."What camp?" She asked again.

Nico seemed to be getting frustrated. "We don't have time to talk about this. It's too dangerous. We need to get you to camp, now!"

Mr. Huckleberry looked as frustrated as Nico, but was much calmer. "A camp in New York. You'll be safe there. Nico will be escorting you. I would myself, but I have decided to retire myself to teaching in the mortal world."

"Retired? Mortal world? New York?" I practically screamed. "New York? What about my family! And my friends! I can't just _leave_!" Nico covered his ears, and Mr. Huckleberry blinked a couple times. I was about to explode and start cussing him out. Forget about being or not being allowed to. This guy-my _principle_-wanted to pull me away from my family and place me in New York with Meg and a boy we barely knew!

"Your mother knows of the situation, as does your, ah, father, I assure you. Your friends, on the other hand, don't. You may tell them you're moving in with Jaycee's aunt and uncle, which you both are. You and Meg will attend middle school with our young Nico, here."

Nico stood up. "We've wasted time. We need to leave. Right _now_!"

I had three feelings. There was one coming from my brain saying _'Dude don't listen to or follow him!' _and my instincts said _'This guy is serious! You need to listen to him!'_ and then there was my stomach _'Can I go back and finish my pizza first?'_

I sided with my brain.

"And why should I listen to you? You're a complete stranger telling me I'm in danger!" I exclaimed. I could hear Meg chuckling behind me. I turned to face her. "What is so funny?"

"You just rhymed!" She laughed. I rolled my eyes and gave her a look that said _'Really?' _

Nico cleared his throat. "We really need to get you someplace safe! We are running out of time!"

"Mind telling me what we'll be safe from?" Nico stayed silent. "Great! I really feel the need to follow you to New York now!" I said sarcastically. Meg was silent, done laughing, and now thinking.

"Maybe if you told us what we'll be safe from, we'd feel more comfortable leaving our lives behind." She stated. Nico looked even more frustrated, like whatever he said next could change everything.

"See, the problem is, if I tell you, you'll be in even more danger then you already are. It'd be best for me to explain when we're safe inside Camp's borders." He slowly explained, which I found ironic since he was in a hurry. He glanced around the room.

"What are you looking for?" I blurted out. Stupid ADHD.

"Dangers." He said simply.

"I smell something. Get the demigods out of here, Nico. Now!" Principle Huckleberry said sternly. Nico nodded and grabbed mine and Meg's wrists, as the principle opened the window for us. Nico had climbed out of it and was outside already when the principle's door burst open. My eyes were now wide.

That…that…_thing!_ Was my English teacher! I yelped and pushed Meg out the window the rest of the way. She yelled to me, "You are so mean!" I just shrugged and jumped out the window before the monster could skewer me. As soon as my feet hit solid ground again, I sprinted after Nico and Meg, who were headed towards the woods.

The first thing I noticed when we reached the woods edge was the giant black dog that licked Nico with a tongue three times the size of Nico's body length. Then the dog bent down for Nico to climb on-which he did-then offered a hand down to me and Meg. Meg was still in shock and rendered immobile. I, also in shock, was at least not paralyzed. Without thinking I grabbed Nico's hand and he helped me onto the back of the monster dog. Then I reached down to help Meg up. When Meg shook her head and saw my hand in front of her face, she smiled sheepishly, and grabbed onto my hand. When all three of us were on and comfortable, Nico whispered into the giant ear, and the dog started running. Fast. I clung to Nico, my arms wrapped tightly around his waist, to keep from falling off.

Then we were swallowed in darkness.

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><p><strong>Review! Please! That's why there is a button for it! So click it!<strong>

_**~*J*~**_


	2. Completley Crazy!

**Hey! I'm not abandoning this story! I'm liking it, actually! Considering the effort I've put into it! And I'm mad at myself for forgetting the disclaimer last time! SO!**

**DISCLAIMER!: I DO NOT OWN ANY CHARACTERS YOU MAY BE FAMILIAR WITH! I HAVE ALL RIGHTS TO JAYCEE CARTER, MEG ANDREWS, DREW CARTER, LANA AUSTIN, ETC. ANY PJO CHARACTERS YOU KNOW BELONG TO THE WONDERFUL AND AMAZING RICK RIORDAN!**

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><p><span>And We Thought We Were Normal<span>

Jaycee Carter. Normal 13 year old girl, right? Wrong! Her life's been weird since the day she's been born, and now it's just gotten weirder. A Goth boy about her age comes in and tells her she's not normal. Well she knew that much, but when he says the gods from the Greek Myths she loved so much are real and still exist, she's not sure what to think. But she believes it. She's had that feeling for a long time now, and it's only being confirmed for her. Now to just survive middle school in New York with her BFF Meg Andrews and her new friend Goth Boy. What could possibly go wrong?

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><p><span>Chapter 2-Completley Crazy!<span>

The darkness was overwhelming. I felt like I was going to pass out, when I saw a small light in the center of the black void. I could feel the warmth of the sun emanating from the small light that got bigger and bigger, until it swallowed us whole.

After blinking several times, I was un-blinded. I loosened my death grip on Nico. I was at the base of a hill. In front of us was a big, blue farmhouse. The farmhouse had a wraparound porch and there was two men sitting at a table playing a card game of some kind. One was in a wheelchair, with a blanket over his legs, and a neatly trimmed beard. He was wearing a sweater with snowflakes decorated on it for winter. The other man was wearing a long sleeve, warm looking leopard print shirt, and some sweatpants. He was definitely _not_ the skinniest person I'd ever met. The dog came to a halt.

Nico slid off the giant, black back and landed on his feet on the ground of green grass. He then reached out a hand to me to help me down. I shrugged it off and jumped off the dog's back, and when my feet hit solid ground, I went into a summersault. Meg, on the other hand, took his hand, and he helped her down, slowly and gently, so she wouldn't fall flat on her face.

When Meg's feet unsteadily found the ground, she stumbled forward. Unfortunately, she stumbled right into me, sending me flying into a girl walking past. Upon impact the girl was knocked to her butt.

"Oh my god! I am _so_ sorry! I totally didn't mean to run into you!" I apologized so quickly you could barley understand my words. The girl had blonde hair and baby blue eyes with a hint of gold in them.

She looked stunned for a second, and then, strangely enough, started laughing. "It's alright! If you say it was an accident, then it was an accident." She stood up and brushed herself off. Then she stuck out her hand to me. "My name's Amber Martin. I'm a daughter Aphrodite. You are?"

I was stunned. Aphrodite? Like in, the Greek goddess, Aphrodite? I shook her hand anyway. "Jaycee Carter, daughter of Scott and Susie Carter." Amber laughed again, and I could hear Nico trying (and failing) to keep his own laughter under control. I turned and glared at Nico until he shut up.

"What's so funny?" I asked coldly, my voice so calm, out of the corner of my eye I saw Meg shiver. Nico cleared his throat.

"It's just that…..well…..you see…..maybe I should let Chiron…..follow me," I raised an eyebrow at his spacey explanation. He pointed me in the direction of the two men on the porch. Meg, curious as ever, started over for the farmhouse porch where the card game continued. Nico started to follow Meg, and I was left with no choice but to follow after them.

By the time I had reached the wraparound porch, Meg was seated and Nico was nowhere to be found. I looked around for him, but I still couldn't find him. I was about to leave the porch to continue my search, when a voice caught me by surprise.

"Who are you looking for, my dear?" I turned and saw the face of the man confined to a wheelchair. His beard neatly trimmed was a light brown color, as was his hair, and his eyes looked that of a man who'd seen everything, even pigs fly.

"Um, no one. Well someone. The person that brought me and my friend here, sir." I figured it was best to use my manners, because he used his by calling me 'my dear'.

"And might his name be Nico Di Angelo?" The man asked.

"How'd you know?"

"Because he'd left a couple days ago, looking for you two. He went back to pick up someone else who's supposed to be here." The man then ushered me into the seat next to Meg. Unlike with my principle, I sat down. Meg's brown-ish grey eyes had, as we call it, 'the look'. She only gets 'the look' when she zones out of this world and into one of her own. She's always thinking, always has a plan, but when it comes time to use it, she doesn't have a clue.

"Um, who are you?" I asked plainly. The guy in the wheelchair only laughed a small, polite laugh.

"My dear, my name is Chiron." _Okay, _I thought, _he's got a weird name. Lots of people have weird names. But Chiron is definitely the weirdest…._ "There is someone here you two should meet."

I was startled when he said 'two' because Meg had been so silent, I forgot she was there. Then the man-Chiron-motioned to the man in the leopard print shirt. I wondered how he could be someone important to meet.

"Jaycee, Meg, this is Mr. D, the camp director." Chiron said.

Mr. D grumbled something that sounded like: 'Stupid half-bloods…..stupid punishments….50 more stupid years…..'

I figured I wouldn't be too fond of Mr. D, and he wouldn't be too fond of me.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, blah, blah, blah, you lived. Well, hoorah for that." Then Mr. D did one of the weirdest things I'd seen yet. He made a Diet Coke out of thin air. I was gawking at the soda as if I'd never seen one before, and Meg's face stayed impassive, but her eyes displayed the shock. Mr. D took a sip of the coke then set it back down and continued his game.

"My dears, there is no easy way to say this, but, the gods of your Greek myths, are real." Chiron said, snapping me back to the present.

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_This shouldn't be possible!...But it is possible….Mr. D's living proof! He's really Dionysus!...It's just a joke!...No. No it's not a joke! It's real….._

I had been having that argument with myself for an hour now, but it really wasn't necessary. I knew Chiron and Mr. D were right. The gods were real. I had read the myths before, and each time I did, I could feel myself taking the hero's place. And those freak accidents. The weird body-like tornado storm chain this summer. The thunder on a clear day. Another big give-away was my 'dad'.

He went out of his way to side with me when my brothers and I fought, to be nice to me, and it seemed genuine, but it _felt_ as if he were _trying_ to replace someone else.

And now, I know my suspicions have only been confirmed. He _was_ trying to replace someone. My real dad. My real dad, who was apparently an all-powerful supernatural being. I guess they're pretty hard to live up to.

But why hasn't my dad at least stopped by? Does my mom know? Is Drew a demigod, too? Will he have to get pulled out of his high school classes to come here? Is that who Nico went back to get, since Drew is a high schooler and not a middle schooler?

I was so caught up in asking myself these questions after the orientation film, that I didn't notice the two boys I ran into. All three of us fell to the ground and landed on our butts.

I looked at them. They looked like twins, with the same brown hair to the same mischievous glint in their eyes. They had the same upturned eyebrows and pointed noses and devilish smiles that clearly stated they were up to no good.

And I wanted in.

"Sorry," I mumbled. The twins looked at each other, stood up simultaneously, and smiled at me. I was instantly wary, but that only suggested that whatever they had planned was genius.

"No problem," The taller one started.

"What's your name?" His twin continued.

I gave them my own smile, which stated the same as theirs. I was up to no good.

"Jaycee Carter. And you two look like you just robbed a bank."

The twins laughed. "You could say that," the shorter one stuck out his hand to me. "Conner Stoll."

I had to admit, Conner was kinda cute. I pushed the feelings down immediately. I don't get too close to people. They've tended to let me down. Meg and my Lana had been the first people in years I've ever been able to open up to. They haven't let me down….yet.

I just stared at Conner's hand as if it were some alien invention that had dropped out of the sky. In other words, I didn't take it.

Conner's brother was looking at him, eyebrow raised and a knowing smirk on his face. Conner, obviously understanding that I wasn't planning on taking his hand, awkwardly lowered it back down to his side.

"Travis Stoll," Conner's twin announced. He spoke with pride, as if it were the best thing in the world.

"You guys are twins?" I blurted out. I couldn't help it. Sometimes ADHD and curiosity took over.

The two shared a look, and just as Travis started to open his mouth, Conner interrupted. I could tell by the look on his brother's face that this was not normal behavior.

"No. Travis is a year older then I am." Travis had a pout on his face. He must've been planning on telling me they were.

"So, who's your guys' parent?"

Both Stolls smiled with happiness, and straightened their backs so they both stood at least two or three inches higher then myself.

"Hermes, God of thieves, travelers, messengers, and a lot of other things!" The Stoll Brothers said in unison.

I heard some yelling in the distance, and saw a look of amusement pass on both brothers' faces. Conner looked at me, a small smile playing on his lips.

"We'll talk later. Since you're new you'll sit at the Hermes table. With us." The yelling was closing in on us now. "Got to go, Jaycee!" And with that the Stolls were running for the hills.

I swear I heard Travis say to Conner, "Bet 10 golden drachmas that she's a child of Hermes."

I rolled my eyes as a girl with light brown hair run past me after the Stolls cursing in another language-was that Greek?-and waving her fist in the air.

After the coast was clear, I continued moving forward, thinking quietly to myself, my old argument quickly starting up again, and it continued until Meg appeared at my side, her calculating brown-gray eyes off in a world off numbers and possibility and her blonde hair falling out of her ponytail.

Together we walked around in silence, touring the camp. Most of the time was spent looking at the amazing cabins. All different and unique. One pure gold and gleaming like the sun as it continued its path across the sky. Another was black obsidian with burning green flames on either side of the door, and a skull above it. One even had a grass roof that was-for some reason-decorated with melting chocolate bunnies. It would've been funny on Easter, but it was winter-winter break started at the end of the school day in fact-so the bunnies only turned the little snow that was on the roof, a hideous color of brown.

We continued touring the cabins until we stumbled upon a person I just so happened to know.

In fact, he was my cousin.

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><p><strong>Like it? Hate it? I don't care how you feel! Just tell me what you think! Laters!<strong>

**~*J.C*~**

**P.S.- New sign off! Based on my demigod alter ego Jaycee Carter! Did anyone else notice her initials say J.C.?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, Hey! Okay,not much to say, except this...anyone who is reading my MoA, sorry for not updating it. I have a slight and irritating writer's block for it. I'll update it as soon as possible! Don't worry! Anyway, here is chapter 3. Can't think of a title for it though...**

**DISCLAIMER!: ANY PJO CHARACTERS BELONG TO THE GREAT RICK RIORDAN! I WOULD NEVER HAD BEEN ABLE TO THINK OF SOMETHING THAT AMAZING!**

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><p><span>And We Thought We Were Normal<span>

Jaycee Carter. Normal 13 year old girl, right? Wrong! Her life's been weird since the day she's been born, and now it's just gotten weirder. A Goth boy about her age comes in and tells her she's not normal. Well she knew that much, but when he says the gods from the Greek Myths she loved so much are real and still exist, she's not sure what to think. But she believes it. She's had that feeling for a long time now, and it's only being confirmed for her. Now to just survive middle school in New York with her BFF Meg Andrews and her new friend Goth Boy. What could possibly go wrong?

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

He stood there, talking to a girl with blonde, curling hair, which I'd seen only in pictures he'd shown me. He and the girl hadn't noticed me and Meg standing there, frozen in place.

For what felt like years, the girl's eyes flickered toward us for a millisecond, and she and my cousin were now turned and staring at us, as we stared back at them.

I didn't know what I should be feeling. See, his mom married my uncle, making his mom my aunt and him my cousin. So it generally surprised me to see him in a place like this. His messy black hair all in his face, covering his eyes that always gleamed with happiness. But behind the happiness, you could sense the sadness. Maybe that's what attracted all the girls. Last time I visited, I swear I saw half of New York teens staring after him as he and I walked back to my uncle's apartment.

The girl was the first to speak. "Uh, hello. You guys must be the new campers Nico was sent to get." She, like everyone else has so far, stuck her hand out for me to shake. I again just stared at it, not moving, frozen like a statue. Meg on the other hand, took it. "I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena."

Meg nodded, like she expected that answer. "Meg Andrews. Un-claimed."

"S'okay. You're what? 13? You'll be claimed by the time campfire comes around tonight." Annabeth then turned to look at me. I was still staring at my cousin, drinking in the fact that he was here, in this place.

Meg snapped her fingers under my nose. I shook my head, out of my trance. I stuttered, "J-Jaycee Carter."

Annabeth looked me up and down, and it felt as if she were looking through me and staring directly at my soul. Looking at and reading every secret I have or had like I was a book. I shuddered, feeling uncomfortable.

"Annabeth, you're obviously making Jaycee uncomfortable." My cousin spoke up. I shot him a 'thank you' look. Annabeth blushed a little.

"Sorry." She muttered.

"S'okay." I sighed, relived that she stopped looking me over. Then my cousin surprised me even more by pulling me into a big bear hug.

My arms were down at my sides in the awkward position that clearly said, 'GET THIS WEIRDO OFF ME!'

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Meg holding back her laughter, doubled over even, in her futile attempt not to crack up. I could also see the surprise and shock displayed on Annabeth's face.

When my cousin had pulled back from his death hug, I almost killed him. He knows I don't like to be touched, and people interaction just really wasn't my thing.

"PERSEUS JACKSON! You _know _I don't like to be touched!" I screamed in his laughing face. Annabeth looked confused, and maybe a little angry.

"Percy," Annabeth said calmly, tapping her foot in impatience, "is there something you forgot to tell me?"

Annabeth's lips formed a thin line, and I instantly knew that Percy was going to be in big trouble.

"Uhh, well, Wise Girl, you see, Jaycee is my cousin. She's Paul's niece." Percy explained, with a sheepish smile on his face. I noticed Annabeth relax a little, but her expression was still hard and stern. Percy let out a nervous laugh.

"Well, will you look at the time? The sun's going down already! How time flies when you're learning about a whole new world of Greek Mythology!" Meg chuckled nervously, and pushed me towards the pavilion, where you eat meals, when a conch horn blew in the distance.

Percy and Annabeth walked together, hand-in-hand, a few steps behind us, deep in a whispering conversation that only the two of them could hear.

"So, your cousin is a demigod." Meg started. Then she held her hand out to me like she was holding a microphone. "How does that make you feel?"

I tried not to smile, and did my best to keep a straight face. "Well, it was quite a shock." I pretended to wipe away a tear. "But I guess we always knew it," I patted my heart now, "right here."

Then we started to laugh. We were laughing so much we had to stop to catch our breath. When were finally able to accomplish breathing normally, we trudged forward again, Percy and Annabeth ahead of us now.

When we stepped into the pavilion, some of the noise stopped. Lots of people looked over at us. Some looked like they were placing bets on something, cause I kept seeing a constant exchange of money. I looked up and scanned the tables looking for Conner and Travis.

They were kinda hard to miss.

Conner was waving his hands wildly, and Travis stood on the table, feet carefully placed so as to not step in food-like he really cared-and he was shouting our names, but was drowned out by the sounds of everyone else's conversations. I quickly grabbed Meg's arm and dragged her over to Travis and Conner-who were calming down, seeing as we were speed walking over.

As we passed, quickly and-mostly-silently, people would stop and stare at us long enough to get a feel for what we looked like. I saw a few boys staring at Meg, and I noticed her obvious blush. I could feel the eyes of a few people myself. I instantly felt a little self-conscious.

I hadn't done my best with my black-brown hair, now glinting red in the sun light. It was down and ratty and tangled. My clothes were obviously tattered, cause that's how I liked it, but they weren't the best fashion statement. I could already see the looks of disgust from some girls at one table. Though I noticed one girl I recognized, Amber, sitting there smiling at me. I gave her a small wave.

We were a few steps away from the Hermes table. Just a few more steps and maybe people would stop looking at us…..

But Mr. D chose that moment to stand and make an announcement. He said from his seat, "We have two new campers, Jocelyn Casey and Marie Adrian…." Chiron whispered something in Mr. D's ear. "….er, I mean, Jaycee Carter and Meg Andrews. That is all."

Now everyone was looking at us. Some were whispering. The same girls at the table with Amber were pointing at something we were wearing and laughing. I pulled Meg the rest of the way to the Hermes table where Conner and Travis were sitting, eating their dinner peacefully.

I kept grumbling about stupid fashion-obsessed girls, and their clown faces, and their immediate gag-reflex perfume.

I sat down in my seat next to Conner, and filled my plate, when I noticed some people getting up and going somewhere. Were they going for seconds?

Conner nudged me, and I got up and followed him to big fire, ablaze in a vast assortment of oranges and reds and a little blue signaling that it was really hot, that were so beautiful and matched the sunset perfectly.

I noticed people scraping their food into the fire, and muttering something. Meg stood behind me looking just as confused as I felt. Why would someone burn their food? Aren't they supposed to eat it?

Soon, Conner was up. He scrapped part of his food into the flames and muttered, "Hermes," under his breath. I was up next.

I scrapped part of my food into the inferno, not knowing what to say, so I just said, "My dad…whoever he is."

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><p><strong>So...I'm hoping to get more than 1 review this time! C'mon! If stories weren't meant to be reviewed, there wouldn't be a button for it.<strong>

**~*J.C*~  
><strong>


	4. Claimed by Campfire Light

And We Thought We Were Normal

Jaycee Carter. Normal 13 year old girl, right? Wrong! Her life's been weird since the day she's been born, and now it's just gotten weirder. A Goth boy about her age comes in and tells her she's not normal. Well she knew that much, but when he says the gods from the Greek Myths she loved so much are real and still exist, she's not sure what to think. But she believes it. She's had that feeling for a long time now, and it's only being confirmed for her. Now to just survive middle school in New York with her BFF Meg Andrews and her new friend Goth Boy. What could possibly go wrong?

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><p>Chapter 4-Claimed by Campfire Light<p>

After an entertaining dinner of getting to know the Stoll Brothers a little more, and a food fight that left the Aphrodite table shrieking, crying, and running around trying to fix their hair, clothes, and make-up, everyone headed towards a big bonfire so bright, you couldn't tell what color it was. It had melted the small amount of snow within a 20-yard radius. You couldn't get real close to it without feeling like you were going to melt!

I stopped walking just to stare at it. Just stare at the bright inferno that people were forming a circle around. The flames reflected in my eyes as they danced an intricate dance that only the flame knew. A dance that touched the night sky, blotting out the stars with its beauty.

I would've stood there all night if someone hadn't tugged on my arm and dragged me to a seat.

Momentarily broken from my trance I looked at the person who got me moving again. It was my brother, Drew. I looked to my left to see Meg-and Lana Austin.

Shock, surprise, delight. Those were just few of the many emotions I was feeling. My friend Lana was here now too. My brother Drew was here now, as well. Everything was good. One of the only people that had gotten me to trust them, arrived in a secret camp, along with my older brother, who I loved and cared deeply about (Not that I'd tell him that, and you better not!). Everything was going to be perfect! Two weeks off of school for Winter Break, then go to a new school in NYC while living with my aunt and uncle, and then come back to Camp Half-Blood for summer! _Just perfect! _

_At least you'll have friends…._part of me thought. But they still didn't even know my darkest secret…..I don't trust them that much. _But you're going to _live _with them. You have to tell them sooner or later, right? _

NO! I'll never tell them, no matter what. I promised myself I wouldn't.

My mental argument must've been showing through facial expressions-I've been told I do that a lot-because Drew looked at me and said, "You're doing it again," and laughed. What a nice brother, I have. I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him.

Meg leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, "Your brother is _hot_!"

I got a disgusted look on my face. How could anyone think _Drew _was hot? I mean, sure, he's got the movie-star good-looks, I'll admit that, he'd get a cocky smile every now and then that showed off his perfectly straight and white teeth. Maybe if he wasn't my older brother, and he wasn't 4 years older than me, I'd think he was hot. But I highly doubted that.

Lana laughed and Meg blushed. I just rolled my eyes at them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Drew with his phone out, texting away. I rolled my eyes again. Drew was texting his girlfriend from San Francisco. _Again. _He seemed to be obsessed with it lately, after meeting her by chance, when she was visiting NYC while we were here to visit Uncle Paul and Aunt Sally.

Drew had stormed out that night after having a terrible fight with our parents at 3:00 A.M. He told me he went to a friend's house to stay the night, but in the morning, he wasn't willing to come back so he went out to travel round the city. He eventually landed in Starbucks. He wanted so bad to buy a nice warm hot chocolate, but he was so mad, he had forgotten his wallet. He told me he then sat down in a chair and put his head on the table when a red-headed girl walked in. She looked cold, Drew had said, all bundled up in winter-wear. She walked in, looked around, and apparently spotted poor, cold, money-less Drew sitting at a table head down and freezing.

Drew told me she went to the counter and bought a hot chocolate. But when her name-Gwen-was called, they handed her _two_. Gwen then walked over to Drew and handed him one of the hot chocolates. He looked into her eyes, her big, brown, kind eyes, and took the hot cocoa gratefully. Gwen sat down and they talked for hours getting to know each other. Gwen had even given Drew advice to help at home-not that he followed it. But within the day, they were dating and Drew called me over to Central Park to meet her. My brother was 6-foot tall exactly then, and the top of my head reached just below his shoulder.

We all hung out in Central Park for a while. I didn't mind being the third-wheel. Gwen didn't completely ignore me, and neither did Drew, but most of the time I wasn't there. But that was fine with me. I was busy writing lyrics to songs. Or I was writing a book. And the two definitely kept the entertainment going.

I now wonder when we'll see her again, and if she really wasn't a dream, and Drew and I were both, for some weird reason, dreaming the same dream.

I turned my head back toward the ever growing higher inferno, where people were making s'mores. I smiled at the thought. My shoulders relaxed, and I stared at the fire. It reminded me of how dangerous beauty is. That was something Lana had told me. When I first met her, I didn't think much of her; because she looked like one of the pretty, peppy, popular people (say that ten times fast). Her hair was shoulder length and a dirty-blonde color. But her hair also had light-blonde natural highlights, making it look like there was gold braided in. She had intelligent brown eyes that glinted with humor.

When we were paired for a science experiment, I had said, "Let me guess. You're going to ask _me _to do all the work so you don't 'break a nail'?" She had glared at me.

"Well, let me tell you, beauty is dangerous. Deadly even. Don't let it fool you! So, don't push me!" I figured she was also in a bad mood that day, cause she was continually set off by anything. And truth be told, she was pretty much the one leading the project-which we had gotten an A on!-and I was the one sitting back.

Lana was a year younger then everyone in the grade but she was also an advanced student, meaning most of our classes were together. I always said to her she was the sister I never had.

The Apollo kids were just about to strike up a tune when everything was bathed in a pink light. People's heads snapped in our direction. Drew glanced up from his phone, eyes widening at what he saw.

My head turned slowly towards the source of light.

Above Lana's head was a dove, surrounded in pink light.

Lana had been claimed.

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><p><strong>So, who do you think Jaycee and Meg are children of, now that you know them a little better?<strong>

_**~*J.C*~**_


	5. Chapter 5 Part 1

**Hi guys! I was really hoping for more feedback, but oh well. I understand. I think.**...**..well, for those of you who _like _this story, here's part 1 of chapter 5**

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><p><span>And We Thought We Were Normal<span>

Jaycee Carter. Normal 13 year old girl, right? Wrong! Her life's been weird since the day she's been born, and now it's just gotten weirder. A Goth boy about her age comes in and tells her she's not normal. Well she knew that much, but when he says the gods from the Greek Myths she loved so much are real and still exist, she's not sure what to think. But she believes it. She's had that feeling for a long time now, and it's only being confirmed for her. Now to just survive middle school in New York with her BFF Meg Andrews and her new friend Goth Boy. What could possibly go wrong?

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><p>Chapter 5- Night of Pranks Part 1<p>

The crowd went up in cheers, I saw Amber run and hug Lana. The Stoll's decided to clap and let loose a few wolf whistles.

I just sat there, wide-eyed at the scene that unfolded around me. I could tell Lana was eating up the attention. She liked attention, but she was keen to stay away from it. So whenever Lana had attention, she'd wallow in it.

A wide smile was on her lips. She'd be immediately placed in the Aphrodite Cabin, which was pretty much a giant Barbie House.

Then a thought struck me. _Where was _I _sleeping tonight? _

Surely they wouldn't stick me (and Meg) in a cabin with the Stoll's? Would they?

There was only one way to find out.

I looked around the amphitheatre, trying to find the mischievous 15-year-old. My eyes spotted him next to his brother, Travis-who was hitting on a child of Demeter, what was her name? Kaily? No, Katie?, yeah, that's it; Katie-and I quickly and quietly made my way over there.

I was now seated behind Conner, quietly inching closer to him from behind. I could still se Drew, across the amphitheatre, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I knew he was asking me a question. It was the, _Do you like him, or something? _Look that he gave me whenever I was around a guy. I just rolled my eyes at him and continued to inch towards Conner.

"Hey," I whispered and he jumped. He turned around, eyes wide and stared at me.

"Gods, you scared me! How were you so quiet? Well, I guess the noise comes into that, but we could use you on some pranks!" He exclaimed in a shout/whisper. Travis heard it and turned towards me.

"When did you get here?" He asked, surprised.

"Not like you'd notice anyway. You spend all your time with your girlfriend," Conner muttered under his breath.

"Just a second ago. I needed to ask you guys a question."

"Yeah?" They said in unison.

"Where are Meg and I sleeping tonight?"

Conner blushed as Travis snickered. Travis smiled.

"The Hermes Cabin, of course…..with us, and a few others." If it were possible Conner turned a deeper shade of scarlet.

"Of course. That's all. See you guys later," I did my normal wave, with my right hand. Meg said it looked kind of like a salute with two fingers.

But before I could go anywhere Conner grabbed my arm.

"Do you even know where the Hermes Cabin is?"

"No. But Meg does. She took it upon herself to memorize every detail of the camp before dinner," I smiled slightly, and wriggled my arm out of his grip and walked back to Meg, who had an amused look on her face.

"Shut up, it's not what you think," I said, fighting down the blush that was creeping up my neck.

The campfire songs and s'mores made the time pass quickly. But towards the end, when one of the Athena campers asked Meg about the book she had in her hands, and Meg went into full detail, another light engulfed the amphitheatre.

A silvery-grey light had taken over the camp, and, yet again, everyone looked over at us. I looked over at Meg to see the owl in an olive tree, surrounded in the pretty light. People cheered again, and Meg was surrounded by people from the Athena Cabin, Annabeth included.

I sighed. Now it would just be _me _in the Hermes Cabin with the Stolls. Of course Drew would be there, but that didn't change anything. I'd pretty much be all alone. In a cabin. Full of guys.

_Great, _I thought sarcastically, _Just great._

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><p><strong>Yeah, kinda short. But you guys really REALLY need to give me feedback. I want at least 5 reviews before I update next. Kay? Good. Now...<strong>

**Meg and Lana have been claimed.**

**Who's Jaycee a child of? Do you have a guess? And don't cheat and look at my 'Mark of Athena' fanfic, cause that tells you who she's a child of. **

**But seriously! Answer the question!**

_**~*J.C*~**_


	6. Part 2

**Oh my gosh guys! You seriously rose to the occasion! I started to get really depressed with this story because I'd only get 1 review a chapter in a 48-hour time period, and so, you know, I posted _that _and y'all wanted me to keep going and keep it the same. *Wipes away tears* You all are amazing! So this chapter is dedicated to:**

**brookerox,**

**daughterofApollo76,**

**Percabethforever234,**

**CloverHeart609,**

**And  
><strong>

**Pjackson**

**And I'll try and post another chapter (also dedicated to those 5 amazing people up there) tonight. :') **

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><p><span>And We Thought We Were Normal<span>

Jaycee Carter. Normal 13 year old girl, right? Wrong! Her life's been weird since the day she's been born, and now it's just gotten weirder. A Goth boy about her age comes in and tells her she's not normal. Well she knew that much, but when he says the gods from the Greek Myths she loved so much are real and still exist, she's not sure what to think. But she believes it. She's had that feeling for a long time now, and it's only being confirmed for her. Now to just survive middle school in New York with her BFF Meg Andrews and her new friend Goth Boy. What could possibly go wrong?

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><p>Chapter 6-Night of Pranks Part 2<p>

I followed Conner and Travis to the Hermes Cabin. I ended up needing shown to it, because Meg had been dragged against her will to the Athena Cabin.

We came up to an old log cabin with a caduceus at the top along with the bronze number eleven. I raised an eyebrow at the building as I followed Conner and Travis inside.

"Okay, guys, there will be a girl with us tonight. Nothing nasty, now," Travis said, wiggling his eyebrows at the cabin of about eight boys. Conner blushed and I swear I heard one guy say, 'Aw, man!'

I stood in the doorway, a glare on my face. They try anything; I swear I will kill them myself.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen! For all we know she's our sister," Travis again looked at Conner. "That'd be weird." Drew arrived behind me, phone in his face again. He didn't notice we were stopped, and he continued forward, tripping his way in.

"Drew!" I said and helped him up. "You alright, bro?"

Drew rubbed his head and stuffed his phone in his pocket.

"Yeah, I'm just peachy." Then he looked around. "Aren't there any other girls in this cabin?" He sounded a little worried.

The Stoll's shook their heads while the Hermes kids laughed. Drew glared at everyone, meeting all their eyes.

"Ok, then. Try anything on my little sister, and I will kill you myself….that is, if she doesn't reach you first."

Most of the guys looked at me with wide-eyes and fear, as I absently popped my fingers and stretched.

"Well," I said cheerfully, "I'm oh-so-tired. Nighty-night boys."

I looked at my digital watch. 12:30 A.M. and I can't sleep. Well, that means prank time. The doctor did say if I wasn't asleep in twenty minutes to get up and do something anyway.

I made sure everyone was asleep and snoring or something, before I pulled on a pitch black shirt and dark blue skinny jeans. I grabbed a black mask that I saw on the floor near Conner's bunk. When I looked in the mirror, you could say I looked like a sneaky ninja.

I pulled open the window near my temporary bed and hopped out quietly. I landed on the soft grass and made my way over to the first cabin full of people who disrespected Meg.

The Aphrodite Cabin.

I woke up to my iPod blaring Nobody's Listening by Linkin Park through my head-phones. I yawned and stretched. I slowly started pulled the covers off me, when I remembered I was in a cabin full of guys, and quickly pulled them back up over me.

I opened one eye slightly to see an empty cabin. With my one eye, I examined the room carefully looking for tripwires, hidden cameras, anything. I smirked.

I made sure my t-shirt was adjusted so as not to be revealing and my shorts weren't too short and crawled out of bed.

I walked straight over to the hidden camera under Travis's pillow and looked at it straight on.

"Nice try," I spoke. Outside the window I heard complaints from many people. "You know, you should hide it a lot better. I could see the red recording light."

I winked at it and turned it off. I then grabbed the Camp Half-Blood tee that Lana's head counselor-whose name was also Drew-had handed me. It was a very low-scooped V-neck, so I grabbed a white tank top to wear underneath, along with some ripped flare jeans.

I walked over to the bathroom to get changed and brush my teeth.

Today was my first day of training. And I get to see Drew's face when she sees herself in the mirror today. I smiled that mischievous smile that always got me labeled a troublemaker, even though my grades were pretty good. Unlike most demigods, I don't have dyslexia.

I walked out of the bathroom, while pulling my hair back into a loose ponytail. As I closed the door I heard a bunch of people whispering, and I could sense the presence of about eight people. I could hear each and every one of their heart beats, and their breathing wasn't loud, but it came like a thunderclap to my very sound sensitive ears.

"You boys need something?" I asked innocently, my back towards them, a smile playing on my lips.

"Yeah, actual-" One of the guys I didn't know started, but was cut off by the high-pitched opera like shrill scream.

I laughed to myself, on the inside. I learned quickly if you just display the emotion of shock and confusion, you wouldn't be suspected right-off the bat like you would if you were cracking up laughing. My facial expression mirrored the ones on the look of the Hermes boys, and Drew (my brother, not the bitchy Aphrodite girl). Some of the guys looked like they might go deaf, but my ears started ringing so loud and violently to my head, I had to clutch my skull while covering my ears to keep the sound out and the ringing down, not that the ringing would go away anytime soon.

"What was _that?_" I practically shouted with feigned shock. I knew what it was, but if I don't want to be caught, I got to act the part too, right?

Conner used his finger to rub out the sound. Travis just cupped his hand around his left ear and shouted, "WHAT?"

Another Hermes kid-Daniel, I think-shouted, "Was that Drew? What happened this time?"

"Don't know! Did her straightener brake again?" Blake screamed at his half-brother. I uncovered my ears, the ringing coming back slowly but surely. I smacked the side of my head a few times.

"Sorry, I can't hear you all very well! What?" I shouted again. Conner then screamed at the top of his lungs.

"HE-E-E-ELP!" Conner was dragged out of the cabin by the back of his shirt by….a clown?

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><p><strong>So...how was it? I won't ask for any number of reviews for this chapter, but still...FEEDBACK IS NICE!<strong>

**_~*J.C*~_**


	7. Training, Music, andClowns?

**Hi! Like I said in my replacement for chapter six**, **this chapter is dedicated to five people who reviewed, and I thank many many many times. Have a virtual cookie (::) or how about a pie (#) **

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><p><span>And We Thought We Were Normal<span>

Jaycee Carter. Normal 13 year old girl, right? Wrong! Her life's been weird since the day she's been born, and now it's just gotten weirder. A Goth boy about her age comes in and tells her she's not normal. Well she knew that much, but when he says the gods from the Greek Myths she loved so much are real and still exist, she's not sure what to think. But she believes it. She's had that feeling for a long time now, and it's only being confirmed for her. Now to just survive middle school in New York with her BFF Meg Andrews and her new friend Goth Boy. What could possibly go wrong?

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><p>Chapter 7-Training, Music, and….Clowns?<p>

Conner was just dragged out of the Hermes cabin by a...clown? A _clown_?

The cabin burst into hysterics….until Travis met the same fate. The clown apparently decided one close-enough-to-a-twin wasn't enough. She had to have both. Katie won't like that. Blake and Daniel were on the floor laughing. Two other guys couldn't breathe. And Drew-being Drew-stood there texting away not noticing a thing….wait. Was that a red light? Oh, gods, he's _videotaping it! _This is gold! YouTube here I come!

Two more high-pitched screams erupted from outside. I stopped laughing long enough to look out the window. The clown had her claw-nails at the throats of the Stoll Brothers, who were whimpering like my older brother's puppy.

I stopped laughing to realize Drew (Aphrodite) had tried to fix her make-up after my make-up explosion, and the best she could do with it was a clown. Priceless! I grabbed my phone out of my jean pockets-thank gods I charged it a couple nights ago-and snapped a few pictures with it.

Then-being the nice person I was-pulled the window open and jumped out.

"Hey! Drew! Since when did you join the circus?" I laughed.

Drew glared at me, which looked funny with her clown make-up making it look like she was smiling and happy. Sort of like the Ronald McDonald clown.

"For your info, newbie, these two did this to me as a _prank._"

The Stolls shook their heads no.

"No! We didn't! We all stayed up last night-except for Jaycee over there, who went to sleep immediately. You can ask….DREW!" Travis shouted, his voice higher than it should have been.

"How am I supposed to ask myself?" Drew growled.

"No, not you Drew! _That _Drew!" Conner complained. I looked over my shoulder to see Drew-my brother in the window, videotaping or texting.

Drew (Aphrodite) spotted him and put on a very flirty smile. "You-hoo! Drew! Could you come here a minute?"

My brother didn't even look up. He kept his eyes on the cell's screen.

I chuckled. "He's already taken. Madly in love if you ask me. Well, as madly in love as you can get when you're 17."

Drew (Aphrodite, man this is getting confusing!) glared at me, then Drew's phone. I laughed again.

"YO! DREW!" Drew looked up from his phone. "Get your lazy butt over here!" I shouted at him.

Drew jumped out of the window as I had and made his way over here, his eyes back on his cell's screen.

"Hmm?" He asked when he was next to me at last.

"We need to ask you a few questions."

"Mm'kay."

"What were you all doing last night?" Drew (Aphrodite) demanded.

"Well, we were all sitting in a circle, pretty much hanging out. Travis was teasing Conner about Ja-_someone_." Drew glared at Conner, as if he did something wrong as Conner flushed a deep ripe apple red.

The daughter of Aphrodite looked at Conner with interest. "So you like someone?"

"Uh…well…ummm…." The certain son of Hermes said intelligently.

"Oh, yeah. You've got a crush." Drew (Aphrodite) nodded. "If it's me, you're not my type." She flicked her hair behind her shoulder and stomped off; leaving the head counselors, me, and my brother alone, the only sounds being the sound of typing and birds.

Two hours after training started, and I knew people were watching me about as secretly as Travis's hidden camera-which is to say, not so secretly.

The problem wasn't that I _wasn't _good at anything. It was that I _was_. In foot racing I always started with a burst of energy. In the mile run at school, I was always in the lead for a good three laps before the burst of energy was depleted and I could barely stand.

Canoeing was as easy as sleeping.

The rock wall with lava was definitely not as easy, but I managed to get to the top without getting scorched.

Pegasus riding? Pretty much the same as the horse-back riding I did when I was younger. The only difference being the whole these-horses-can-fly thing. I had even struck a bound with a pure white Pegasus with a golden mane. Amber, the girl from Aphrodite who'd taken over Pegasus lessons, told me her name was Sunshine. I'm guessing an Aphrodite kid named her that, but we seemed to get along perfectly. Percy even stopped by while I was there Sunshine and I had a whole conversation.

Sword fighting and archery seemed to be, though, my top strengths. I beat most of the Athena campers and half the Ares Cabin in sword fights, with many cuts, bruises, and some possible scars, as souvenirs. In archery class, I placed top, getting all bull's eyes, beating out the top Apollo archers.

Even though these classes were odd to me, they seemed about as natural as math, or science, or history, and all the classes came as easily.

Either I was plain weird or just plain talented, cause I didn't even truly try. But half-way through my classes I got bored and just tried not to die in the sword fights.

Head Counselor Drew the Clown would occasionally throw me a few clown smile/glares, while I laughed my head off.

After a while, Conner and Travis dismissed us for a 'free period', so I headed down to the beach, where I knew it would be peaceful-unless Percy and Annabeth were there-so I could clear my thoughts. Since I was going down there, I changed into jean shorts, and grabbed a towel and my song book and a pen to write with.

I made my way down to the beach when I heard the soft strumming of a guitar coming from the Athena Cabin.

_Must be Meg. _I thought. _Maybe she'd like to come with me?_

I knocked on the door, and an eight year old boy answered. He had round Harry Potter glasses and a book bigger than an encyclopedia in his hands.

"Yes?" He sniffled as he wiped his nose on the back of his hand.

"Is that Meg playing the guitar? Is she in there?"

"Yes. She is. Why?"

"Well, could you get her for me?"

"Why?"

"Just get her for me."

"Who are you?"

"Jaycee Carter. Now can you get Meg for me?"

"Why?"

"Just get Meg!"

"What's the magic word?"

Of course. I closed my eyes as I mentally rolled them.

"Please? Can you _please _go get Meg for me?"

"Alright."

The little boy walked into the cabin closing the door in my face. Five seconds later, Meg opened the door guitar in hand and an irritated look on her face.

"Dillion just shut up! You don't need to know why everyone does and doesn't do stuff!" She screamed behind her.

She threw me an apologetic look. I just waved it off.

"So, what's up?"

"Well, I heard you playing your guitar, and I was just about to go down to the beach to write some lyrics. Want to join?"

Meg smiled widely. Ever since we were little we decided we wanted to be musicians. We discovered each other's talents. We could both sing, but she played guitar, and I wrote lyrics. When we tried the other way around….well. It wasn't pretty. I ended up buying her a new guitar.

"Sounds great! Let's go before Dillion asks us why."

We laughed and headed for the beach together, Meg strumming on her guitar lightly and me jotting down notes and lyrics. Words for either stories or songs.

_Maybe we'd write a song about clowns…_I smiled, inwardly laughing to myself.

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><p><strong>Okay, could I get five reviews before next chapter? Can y'all rise to the occasion again? FEEDBACK IS NICE!<strong>

_**~*J.C*~**_


	8. Can't Start School without being Claimed

**Hey! I know I said I wanted five reviews before my next update, but I got two or three, and this was done, so I was like 'Why not?' Hope y'all like it!**

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><p><span>And We Thought We Were Normal<span>

Jaycee Carter. Normal 13 year old girl, right? Wrong! Her life's been weird since the day she's been born, and now it's just gotten weirder. A Goth boy about her age comes in and tells her she's not normal. Well she knew that much, but when he says the gods from the Greek Myths she loved so much are real and still exist, she's not sure what to think. But she believes it. She's had that feeling for a long time now, and it's only being confirmed for her. Now to just survive middle school in New York with her BFF Meg Andrews and her new friend Goth Boy. What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

><p>Chapter 8-Can't Start School without being Claimed<p>

The next week went by so fast I couldn't really remember it. I spent most my free time hanging out with Meg and getting to know some of the other campers, though I was still shy of them. Nico said that I'd have to go meet up with Aunt Sally and Uncle Paul soon. Me, Lana, and Meg would be living in the open apartment next door to them. Apparently, Drew didn't have to, cause he was seventeen. Apparently, my parents trusted him to just train and learn how to fight with a sword and then come back to finish up school back in Kokomo.

And, apparently, my family didn't trust me like that.

In a couple hours, Meg, Lana, Percy, Annabeth, and I would go into the city, travel to the apartment, unpack, and get settled in before school starts in, like, three days.

I traveled to the arena-half of it being taken up by Percy's pet helhound, Mrs. O' Leary. Seriously? A pet hellhound? Can my cousin get _any _weirder?

I picked up a gleaming Celestial Bronze sword. Three feet of deadly weaponry that would get any normal person arrested for owning. I sighed, wondering how I was going to hide this thing, or a bow and arrow, in the mortal world.

I continued training, slashing dummies into rags and stuffing, pretending each one was a different problem I'll have to face.

Being the new kid.

_Slash!_

Starting over.

_Ker-whack!_

I continued on and on until my arm felt like it'd fall off. But that didn't stop me. Instead I sheathed my sword and headed toward the archery range.

When I arrived at the edge of the archery range, I grabbed a spare bow and quiver full of arrows. I then walked up to the shooting line. I notched an arrow and pulled the string back, pretending the bull's eye was one of the bullies I had to put up with.

Audrey Plow

_Whoosh-ing!_

Bull's eye.

Ellie Bean

_Whiiiiish-king!_

Another bull's eye.

I reloaded.

Paula Stout

I pulled back on the string, but before I let go and let the arrow fly, Chiron-who appeared out of nowhere-and Will Solace from Apollo and plenty other Apollo campers bowed or clapped or cheered.

"Jaycee Carter, daughter of Apollo, god of sun, healing, music, and poetry!" Chiron announced in a loud voice. Why'd he give me an introduction? I'm pretty sure everyone knew who I was by now. Or does he do that to everyone?

Wait…I've been claimed! Well, you can't start school without being claimed.

I looked up above me to see a lyre and a bow and arrow. Two symbols of Apollo. It was all bathed in a golden light. I stared at the fading symbol, the same thing running through my mind; I hadn't noticed Will and some other Apollo campers bringing me to Cabin 7.

_I've been claimed…._

That's all I could think about. I'd been claimed. Well, now that I think about it, it was obvious I was a child of Apollo. I was exceptional at archery, I was absolutely in _love _with music, poetry wasn't my favorite, but I could memorize it faster than you could say Romeo and Juliet.

When I snapped back to reality, there was a half-circle of six kids around me and a bunk. All the kids were staring at something that rested on the bed.

"I can't believe it!" A little girl exclaimed.

"It's beautiful." A boy, not much older then I was, said with awe.

I looked at the bow and quiver full of arrows that lay on the bunk that I guessed would be mine. Will tenderly reached for the note that was attached to the quiver.

He skimmed through it, and then handed it to me.

It read:

_Dear Jaycee,_

_I am your father_

_Here's a gift for you, daughter_

_You're awesome, like me._

_Apollo ;)_

I raised an eyebrow at the haiku. A winky face? Seriously? I rolled my eyes and set the note down on the night stand next to the bed. Every single one of the Apollo campers (except Will) made a grab for the note to read it. I just reached out to grab the bow.

It was truly beautiful. A blend between gold and silver in intricate designs. Another note floated down in a flash of light.

I grabbed it out of the air.

_Dear Jaycee,_

_I hope you like your gift. And good luck in middle school. _

_I feel another haiku coming._

_Middle School is ruff_

_ But I know you can make it_

_Because you are that awesome._

_Apollo ;)_

I smiled. The beautiful bow was mine. There were twenty arrows in the quiver. I wonder what will happen when I use them all…..

Another flash of light and another note came floating toward me. I placed the second note next to the first.

_Dear Jaycee,_

_I almost forgot to mention, the arrows, when you use all twenty, twenty more replace them! It's magic! Awesome right? I'd thank Hecate. She helped me with it. And so did Hephaestus. And Hermes got it down there. So, that's four gods you can thank! _

_I'm just that awesome_

_And so are the other gods_

_But none quite like me._

_Apollo ;)_

Well. There goes that question. I smiled even wider, and set down the third note so my new half-brothers and sisters could read them.

I couldn't settle in for long, but we got my bunk ready for the summer, by putting shorts and Camp Half-Blood tees and tank tops in drawers, along with more personal things that the four guys in the cabin had to 'leave for some more archery practice' so the two girls and I could finish putting some stuff in my trunk.

When we finished, I looked at the two girls. One was Drew's age and the other was about three years younger than I was.

"Well, I'm obviously Jaycee Carter. What are your guys' names?"

The older girl stuck her hand out to me. "Nina McDonnell," she said with a smile. I gave a shy smile back, and cautiously shook her hand. She was the first person I actually shook hands with at camp.

The younger girl smiled, revealing two missing teeth, "Andrea Parks!"

Instead of shaking my hand the girl gave me a bear-hug I didn't need.

Nina laughed as the little girl's arms around my waist tightened, insisting I hug back.

I awkwardly patted her back signaling I'm not a big 'people person'. She let go, but continued smiling.

"Sorry bout-" Nina would've finished her sentence if a rowdy group of boys didn't come rushing in, my brother with them.

"Drew!" I exclaimed. He smiled at me and gave me a hug.

"Jay! You got claimed, too? I was just hanging with the Hermes Cabin, when we saw Will and the rest of them being rushed out of the cabin. The Stolls and I asked what was going on, and Will said they were moving Jaycee in. I was like, 'No way! My sister?' and he said, 'Yeah, your sister.' And then BAM! I'm being rushed in here with a golden bathed lyre over my head! Pretty cool, eh?" Drew managed to get all that out in one breathe. He was kind of hard to follow.

Then two more boys rushed in. Two boys I knew for a fact weren't sons of Apollo.

Conner and Percy stood panting inside the door way, with Travis collapsed behind them.

* * *

><p><strong>So...how was it? I'd really like to hear your feedback. Was it crappy? Was it okay? Was it good? Was it great? Was it terrible?<strong>

**I really like hearing what you all have to say!**

_**~*J.C*~**_


	9. School Starts a Living Hell

**Hey! I'm super glad y'all are liking it! Like SUPER glad! And I got some questions from people (which y'all are free to ask). So I'm going to answer them!**

**bookaholic98 asked _Why did you choose Apollo for yourself?_**

The answer to this very good question is...Apollo best suited me. Most people would like to be children of Poseidon or Hades or Zeus or Aphrodite. But Apollo suited me, and I felt better writing as a daughter of Apollo, which i truly am. That and the quiz in the Ultimate Guide that tells you who your godly parent would be said Apollo X)

**CloverHeart609 asked _Does Drew find out that Jaycee did the prank? If so does Drew get her back?_**

Another great question! You'll have to stay tuned! I feel like a commercial...

**crazygirl913 didn't ask a question but her review made me smile :)**

I'm glad you gave mine a try! I really do have fun with this story and almost all the events I'll put into the school parts have actually happened to me, so I hope that's what keeps everyone's attention, and they can relate to my life, true or not.

**Julienl11 also didn't ask a question, but her (or his) review made me really happy :)**

Thank you! I've always enjoyed writing, and people are always surprised considering how athletic my family is. It's kind of the reason why I'm good at a lot of stuff we do in P.E. or any other outside activity like a game called GaGa Ball. And people are always surprised when they find out I'm a 13-year-old girl in middle school. X)

* * *

><p><span>And We Thought We Were Normal<span>

Jaycee Carter. Normal 13 year old girl, right? Wrong! Her life's been weird since the day she's been born, and now it's just gotten weirder. A Goth boy about her age comes in and tells her she's not normal. Well she knew that much, but when he says the gods from the Greek Myths she loved so much are real and still exist, she's not sure what to think. But she believes it. She's had that feeling for a long time now, and it's only being confirmed for her. Now to just survive middle school in New York with her BFF Meg Andrews and her new friend Goth Boy. What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

><p>Chapter 9-School Starts a Living Hell<p>

Percy straightened up and took some deep breathes while Conner helped Travis up.

"What happened to _him?" _I asked completely bewildered. Conner looked over at me and smiled.

"Katie hit him in the back of the head with a frying pan."

"What'd he do?"

"He tried to kiss her."

Travis raised his hand from the ground.

"She panicked. We all know she wants to kiss me." Travis smiled, stood up, and flexed. "I mean, who can resist this?"

When Travis was done showing off muscle that really wasn't there, Conner held out his hand. Travis stared at it.

"What?" He asked his brother.

"I believe you owe me money," Conner answered, a smirk on his mischievous face, as Travis dug around in his pockets. Travis pulled out a big, golden coin-a drachma-and handed it over to Conner, who looked unsatisfied.

"What now?" Travis whined.

"You owe me four more drachmas," his brother replied.

"I only have the one right now!"

"Well, then I believe you're now in my debt."

"No way! I will _not-_"

"Guys!" Percy yelled at them. "Why did you two even come here again?"

"Well," Travis started.

"We wanted to congratulate Jaycee on being claimed," Conner continued.

"And Conner really wanted to see her, cause she disappeared, off to nowhere," Travis exaggerated the 'no where' while wiggling his fingers, trying to look mysterious. Percy rolled his eyes.

"Well, I got to get Jaycee, Meg, and Lana to the apartment so they can go to school."

"School?" Conner asked, saying the word as if it was a foreign concept.

"What is this 'school'?" Travis caught on.

"School is this place where you go to learn. Whether you want to or not. Except for you year-rounders. You don't have to go to school," One of the younger Apollo kids explained to the Stolls who, apparently, weren't joking around.

Travis looked horrified, and Conner looked like he might pass out.

"That's _horrible!_" Travis walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I hope you come back alive."

I rolled my eyes. "I've been doing well for a while, I think I'll be fine," I said as I removed his hand from my shoulder.

Then Travis turned to Conner.

"C'mon Conner, say bye to Jaycee, then we have to figure out who pranked the Aphrodite head counselor, you know, to get pay back."

Conner wiped his forehead, and then pulled me into a hug, my arms back at my sides awkwardly. When he pulled away, he patted my shoulder and walked out of the cabin with his brother.

_That wasn't weird and random…._I thought sarcastically.

The whole room had eyebrows raised. Then Will looked at me and said, "Check your pockets."

I did to find everything there and in its place. When I told them that, they were even more confused than originally.

* * *

><p>Percy, Lana, Meg, Annabeth, and I were all crammed in a cab heading to the apartment building. Annabeth and Meg tried to keep a conversation going, but we were all feeling a bit awkward.<p>

I just turned my head to look out the window of the cab, and turned my music up. Slowly my eyes drooped and I would've fallen asleep, if everyone didn't jump out of the car.

I groaned, and got out of the cab and gave him some money.

"Thank ya, ma'am." He said around a cigar, as he took the money gratefully.

I went to the back of the cab and popped open the trunk and we all got out bags. I double checked that my new bow and arrows were safely tucked away in the suitcase. I hadn't had time to place it better.

We entered the lobby and Percy greeted the super of the building with a polite 'hello' and nod of the head. The super didn't even look up as he had a book in his hand, but raised his hand in greeting.

We got into the elevator and rode up to the fifth floor. To be honest, I couldn't wait to see Uncle Paul and Aunt Sally. Aunt Sally's cooking was always amazing, and Uncle Paul….well, Uncle Paul can be a little clumsy.

We approached the apartment door, and Percy set down Lana's hot and pale pink bag on the ground to open the door. He then let us all enter the room.

_I wonder why he's being so polite…_

I stepped in carrying my navy blue and silver suitcase behind me. I looked around the room. Everything looked the same.

"Hey, Mom! I got Jaycee and her friends!" Percy called. Aunt Sally walked into the room from the kitchen, apron on and she was pulling hot pads off her hands.

"Percy!" Sally exclaimed and gave him a big hug. Then she looked at me, "And Jaycee! Did you get taller?"

I smiled and nodded. "Aunt Sally, these are my friends Meg Andrews and Lana Austin."

Sally smiled at my friends and Meg and Lana waved.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Jackson!" Lana gushed. "And it was really nice of you to, you know, watch over us."

Sally waved her off. "Please, call me Sally, and it really was no problem."

"Are you sure Mrs. Jack...Sally?" Meg asked.

"Completely positive. Now why don't you all head to the kitchen? I just pulled some cookies out of the oven."

Percy and Annabeth immediately rushed for the kitchen. I laughed and explained how Sally's cooking is the absolute best. Sally, being the modest person she was, tried to deny her cooking being the best.

After two days of settling into the 3-bedroom apartment next door, and getting meals from Sally, it was time for our trip to living hell.

Jr. High.

Now, you know how people say high school is pretty much the most drama filled four years of your life? So not true. Middle school is the most drama filled three years of your life, at least, now-a-days it is. The girls in middle school wear about two or three times _more _make-up then they should, the guys' pants are down around their knees, and everyone's pretty much going through puberty.

The guys' voices squeaked a lot, which is always funny, but I think girl's have it pretty bad. Not only are they starting to 'develop', they've also got the crazy emotional hormones going round that makes a simple answer of 'no' into a big problem.

That and Jr. High pretty much introduces actual romance.

Now, I'm not too big on romance. That and no guy would ever be caught dead trying to flirt with me. By now, all guys know, if you flirt with Jaycee Carter, you're going to be punched in the gut.

But the crazy hormones girls get don't exclude me. I'm pretty sure last year, I fell 'head-over-heals' for a guy because he talked to me _all the time_. He was really nice too. But after I 'got over' him, I knew I never _really_ liked him. Just crazy girl hormones doing their crazy job.

I sat in the back of Paul's car by the window, staring at the New York buildings and all the cars and people going by. The city that never sleeps definitely didn't look sleepy. Percy said he'd ride with Paul this morning because he was 'too tired to drive'. Yeah, right. More like 'too lazy'.

I waited in the car for what felt like years, so I knew it was only about twenty minutes until we pulled into the school parking lot. I glanced at Goode High School, where Percy was already headed, then turned my head towards its middle school.

From here, I could already see the short skirts and baggy jeans of students trying to find their place. The middle school cheerleaders were out in their uniforms waving pom-poms around and greeting the sixth and seventh and eighth graders. I wasn't too excited in being there.

I looked at Paul.

"Is there a back entrance or something? So I can go in unnoticed?" I pleaded with him. He only gave me a smile and winked.

"You'd have to face them sooner or later," He said, grabbing his briefcase and opening his door to get out.

"Yeah, and the later I face them, the less enemies I have," I mumbled to myself. Meg and Lana looked at me.

"Hey! At least we have each other," Meg said placing a hand on my shoulder. Lana looked at me still, staring me down until I opened the door and stepped out so Paul could lock the car.

Lana nodded looking satisfied. "And that Nico guy. He's here too, isn't he?"

"Yeah, I guess. Let's just get this over with," I sighed and dragged my feet all the way up to Goode Middle School.

As I approached the doors, a girl with scrunched blonde hair and the standard blue eyes stepped in front of us.

"I'm Hallie Ross!" She practically screamed in my ear. "What's your name?"

I didn't answer and tried to push through her, but two girls came up behind her and made us stay. Lana smiled.

"Lana Austin. And is that you, Audrey? Audrey Plow?"

The girl who looked exactly like Audrey-bleached blonde hair that had streaks of white and blue-ish green eyes-nodded, eyes wide. I remembered how she moved away a month after school started in seventh grade.

"Lana? Oh, it's great to see you! And Meg! Jaycee, too!" Audrey smiled at us, and gave Meg and Lana forced hugs. She tried to give me one too, but I just side-stepped and pushed her away.

Hallie looked at Audrey, "You know them? Great! I'm sure we'll be the best of friends!"

A short guy with slightly curly black hair walked up to Hallie. "Hey, Hallie! C'mon we got to get to science or Mr. LB will be mad. Like he's face will turn purple and red mad! And he'll assign extra-unneeded-homework mad!"

Hallie's face turned into confusion. I swear, you know those blonde jokes? So far, Hallie seemed to be the definition of 'dumb blonde'.

This was going to be a _long _rest of the school year. At least I only have….five months of it.

Gods help me!

* * *

><p><strong>Phew! That was a looooong chapter in my opinion! So, feel free to ask questions! I'll be sure to reply to them when I update next! <strong>

**_~*J.C*~_**


	10. Gods Help Me! Please!

**Hey! Answering questions, then I got to tell you something, IMPORTANT!**

**sunshine12489...she (or he) asked a LOT of questions, so I'm just going to answer.**

Yes, Jaycee is indeed based off of me. And no I don't exactly like hugs. Thanks for your review!

**CloverHeart609**

More like, regular bitch-y teenage girls, haha. But you might be surprised what comes around :)

* * *

><p><span>And We Thought We Were Normal<span>

Jaycee Carter. Normal 13 year old girl, right? Wrong! Her life's been weird since the day she's been born, and now it's just gotten weirder. A Goth boy about her age comes in and tells her she's not normal. Well she knew that much, but when he says the gods from the Greek Myths she loved so much are real and still exist, she's not sure what to think. But she believes it. She's had that feeling for a long time now, and it's only being confirmed for her. Now to just survive middle school in New York with her BFF Meg Andrews and her new friend Goth Boy. What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

><p>Chapter 10-Gods Help Me! Please!<p>

I looked at my schedule again. Then at Lana and Meg's. We had all the same classes. Except one.

When I had Honors English (Yay, for not being dyslexic, only ADHD! Not that it helps.) Lana had Art and Meg had Honors Mathematics. I just hoped none of my classes would be with the Preps-or popular people. I looked at our schedules again, for first period we had….science. Gods help me! Please!

The gods apparently didn't want to help, as when I walked into the science room Mr. LB told us where our seats were. And I had to sit next to Hallie Ross, Audrey Plow, and a girl I didn't know. I hoped she wasn't like the Preps.

I shouldered my bag and walked towards my seat. As I sat down, the girl looked up from her paper. She was Asia-with dark black, short hair, and the fair milk chocolate skin. She smiled a forced smile, and I did the same.

I saw Hallie and Audrey scowl at the girl. If those two didn't like her, I'm sure that we'll be best friends!

I sat down and looked at the girl to my right. "Hi, I'm Jaycee Carter."

She smiled another forced smile. "Kyra Henley." She pronounced her name like Key-rah.

"Nice to meet you," She nodded and looked back at her paper while Hallie and Audrey glared at her. "Those two must really not like you."

"No, they don't."

"Why?"

"They think I take nude photos of myself and send them to guys."

"And you don't?"

"No way! I'm not stupid!" I heard her mumble under her breath, "They're just bitches."

My eyebrows rose slightly, and I looked down at my desk. I was afraid I'd fall asleep in class, and I was right in front of the teacher's desk. But as the class went on, I drifted off faster than Kyra could shake me awake. Mr. LB must've been far-sighted, because he didn't even notice.

My small dream started off like this.

I was first at Camp Half-Blood, just walking on the hill. Walking closer and closer to the giant pine tree. When I reached out my hand to touch it, a girl materialized. I fell back startled, and the girl looked like she had something urgent to say, her electric blue eyes sparking. She had a message, I'm sure. Some type of warning.

But as I fell back, the ground opened up to swallow me, as it shook and rumbled closed, as if it were laughing…..

The bell rang and my head snapped open. I automatically grabbed my stuff and followed Meg, Lana, and Kyra out the door.

I followed them down the steps towards our lockers. Kyra's happened to be right next to mine. I approached my locker when out of nowhere Hallie and Audrey materialized at my sides, along with another girl-Raven Smith-blocking my way to my locker.

"You shouldn't hang out with people like Kyra, Jaycee. You'll get a bad rep. And Lana and Meg, your two 'friends'. You should stick by people like us. You could be popular, like us." Hallie smiled at me. I shook my head in disgust.

"If I should 'stay away' from anyone, it'd be people like you," I spat. The look on their faces made me want to laugh until I couldn't breathe. They wore way too much make-up and glitter covered their faces. They looked like they'd just stepped right out of The Hunger Games books' Capitol.

Hallie glared at me. "Well, you dress like a stripper."

I looked down at what I was wearing. A white tank-top with a coral red box shirt over it, jeans that covered my tennis shoes but were short enough I didn't trip, and a grey Hollister jacket.

I then looked at what she was wearing. A tight, low cut V-neck sweater dress that shouldn't have been 'school appropriate', skin-tight leggings, and moccasins (which I thought looked a little weird). I just rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"I'm pretty sure strippers don't wear tank-tops with shirts over them, jeans and tennis shoes. If anything, they wear something more like that," I said using my finger to point at her outfit. She glared at me.

"You're a brat!"

"Nope, I'm just telling the truth."

"I hate you!"

"I hate you, too. Can you leave now? I don't really want to see the make-up department all on one face."

She huffed and stomped away, Audrey looking pretty pissed, and Raven looked at me slightly impressed.

"I've wanted to mention school appropriate clothes to her for a while now. I just never had the guts to do it." She whispered to me, before looking annoyed and following the other two girls.

If I have anymore classes with the Preps, I swear, I might die.

The next two classes-Honors English and History-pretty much went by as soon as I set my stuff down. Though I think I fell asleep there, too, because I don't remember half the class.

I looked at my schedule again. Mythology. It seemed like a pretty weird class. I looked around for someone I knew the name of. Kendra Wilson from History-a shorter, athletic girl with a grey soccer t-shirt on-was the first person I saw.

"Hey!" I ran up to her. "Kendra, right?" She nodded.

"Yeah. What's up?"

"Well, my schedule says I have Mythology," She didn't seem to get what was weird with that, so I continued. "And that seemed a pretty weird class to me. Why do you have it?"

She laughed, "It'll probably be only for this year. Every year they try to find a new class that people will like, you know, to replace this one really bad class they had gotten rid of. They've been trying to replace it for such a long time, they've had to sort of come up with classes."

I laughed. "Are you serious?"

"Completely. I've got it next, too. I'll walk you there."

Together, we walked towards the Mythology Classroom. I passed many people, but a few stood out among the crowds of teens. One girl-who reminded me much of Alice Parks-waved at me. I had met her in Honors English. Her name was Ally Pierson, and claimed to be Alice's cousin.

Another girl looked a lot like Lacy. And yet another girl reminded me of my clumsy friend Vanessa Crumbs. Leanne Casey-from History-joined Kendra as we walked to Mythology.

"Hey, Kendra! Did you get the rest of the History homework Mr. McDaniel assigned?" She asked. She waved at me when she saw me next to Kendra. "Hi, Jaycee!"

"Hey," I replied with a small wave.

"I left it in my locker. I had written it all down. I'll be sure to give it to you later though!" Kendra sighed and placed a hand on Leanne's shoulder. "Are you going to Mythology, too?"

Leanne nodded. "Yep! You guys?"

"Uh-huh." I nodded. I couldn't wait to see Lana and Meg again. I'd probably sit next to them.

"Jaycee?" Leanne waved a hand in front of my face. I shook my head.

"What?"

"I asked you if you wanted to sit with me and my friends at lunch."

"Oh…uh…can I bring my two friends?"

"Sure!"

"Um, okay, then!" I did my best to sound positive. It wasn't everyday that someone asked _me _to sit with them. But then again, Lana made me not wear the black shirt with random things spelling Love down the side.

I looked around and noticed Kendra was gone.

"Where'd Kendra go?"

"Some of the more popular people walked by and dragged her with them," Leanne sighed. "Kendra doesn't belong with them, but they insist on her being with them, and Kendra is too nice to say no."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Now, c'mon. You need to meet the teacher, Mrs. Alexandra. She's awesome! I really hope they keep her."

I nodded slowly, and followed Leanne inside the room. It was decorated with (fake) Greek architecture. Leanne explained how, for the trial basis, we'd be learning about Ancient Greek Mythology.

I smiled at the thought. This class would be a breeze. I've already learned everything, before and after Camp Half-Blood. Then I spotted half the popular group in the back corner, glaring at me. I just glared back.

Leanne pulled me over to a seat near Meg, Lana, and Leanne's friends who all looked similar to my friends back in Kokomo.

Maybe the gods did help….sort of. Maybe they made my life here bearable by placing near copies of my old friends here. Or they were just cousins or something and this was just a coincidence (Though I doubt it's a coincidence.).

Mrs. Alexandra stepped up to the front of the class wearing a Greek chiton.

This class will definitely be interesting to say the least.

* * *

><p><strong>OKAY! IMPORTANT MESSAGE! <strong>

**So, the girl I based Halli Ross off of, indeed called me a brat, a bitch, and said I dress like a stripper. But seriously, she's one to talk. I mean, she says she doesn't cuss, then turns around and has a sailor's mouth! She wrote a letter to my friend's now ex-boyfriend when they were dating saying it was from someone else and how that person said they still 'loved' them and all that junk while bad-mouthing my friend! I literally wanted to rip her head off! Then she said to the person Meg is based off of that I told her that day that I get mad at her when she doesn't sit with me on the bus. I WASN'T EVEN AT SCHOOL THAT DAY! **

**Some people-Hi, Hallie-are only even alive cause it's illegal to kill them.**

**_~*J.C*~_  
><strong>


	11. The Play's the Thing

**Hey! Time for the good ol' answer the questions!**

**42 asked..._where did you come up with this stuff?_ and _Jaycee is a Daughter of Apollo and she seems a lot different from other children of Apollo did you mean for her to be like that? _**

****First question! What exactly do you mean 'come up with this stuff'? Like how do I think of this story, my other story, or the plot line, or what? But most of it is just in my head and random things make me think of a story, you know? Second question! Jaycee is indeed unlike most children of Apollo. She has some of her mother in her too, you know.

**Hmmm...that was the only question(s) asked. Ah well. If you all have questions you'll ask. Here's the next chapter!**

* * *

><p><span>And We Thought We Were Normal<span>

Jaycee Carter. Normal 13 year old girl, right? Wrong! Her life's been weird since the day she's been born, and now it's just gotten weirder. A Goth boy about her age comes in and tells her she's not normal. Well she knew that much, but when he says the gods from the Greek Myths she loved so much are real and still exist, she's not sure what to think. But she believes it. She's had that feeling for a long time now, and it's only being confirmed for her. Now to just survive middle school in New York with her BFF Meg Andrews and her new friend Goth Boy. What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

><p>Chapter 11-The Play's the Thing<p>

Mrs. Alexandra sat at the front of the class on a tripod stool. She spoke in riddle and rhyme before she asked us who or what she was. I raised my hand without knowing. She looked at me surprised that the new student knew.

"Jaycee?" She called.

"You're the Oracle of Delphi, speaker of prophecies for Phoebus Apollo, the Olympian god of prophecy," I said casually. I didn't know the answer, but I did. Does that make sense? Probably not. The teacher nodded.

"Correct," She sounded flabbergasted. "I am the Oracle of Delphi. Speaker of prophecies. For Phoebus Apollo, the god of prophecy. How did you know?"

"I love Greek Mythology, I guess."

"Yes," She nodded, "That must be it. Anyway, I'm happy to tell you that the Goode Theatre program is helping us with our new class project! We will be putting on a play about the Greek Myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. You have to participate to get your grade!" She said sternly. Then she smiled.

"I'll be passing around a sign-up sheet for actors and actresses. If you'd rather not act, you can work behind the scenes as tech crew, costume, or make-up. Understand?"

We all nodded and she smiled wider. She started with my row of seats. She handed me the paper for actors and actresses. On impulse I wrote my name down then handed the paper back to Meg with a smile.

So far, Mythology was my favorite class, not because I was considered a myth to my classmates, but because it was fun and definitely a hands-on class. Sort of like how in F.A.C.S. class you cook. In Mythology class, we're Ancient Greeks and go around 'praising the gods' and 'thanking the gods' and asking each other 'which god we worship'. Meg said Athena, Lana said Aphrodite-making the Preps squeal a little, probably thinking she could join them-and I would say Apollo with a bright smile.

Mrs. Alexandra had had us join the other people who worshiped the god we'd chosen and that'd be our group for the rest of the year as a new class project. In my group, there were five boys and two girls, reminding me much of the Apollo Cabin back at Camp. A waved at them, and the two girls looked bored and the guys were acting like weirdos. Nothing unusual here.

One of the girls looked at me. "Taylor Alexandra. Mrs. Alexandra's daughter." I nodded. Taylor had blonde straight hair and brown eyes and was wearing an assortment of colors. She pretty much looked like a walking rainbow.

"Maddison Zeller." A girl with red hair and brown eyes said. She didn't look like the 'Apollo' type, but neither did I. The thing is I don't look the part, but my personality does, when I'm not trying to stay to the shadows.

"Jaycee Carter." I looked at the guys. "Who are they?"

Taylor smiled and pointed to a guy who was maybe 5' 3", "That is Peyton Hawkins," she then moved her finger to the really tall guy who must've been past 6 feet tall with short cropped brown hair, "Trevor Redman," then to the quiet guy with sandy blonde hair and blue-ish eyes, "Logan Miller," then she pointed to the last two guys who seemed to be arguing, "And the one with the dark brown hair is Noah Morris and the one next to him is Clayton Doug."

I nodded and looked around the room till I saw one guy standing alone in the corner. He was wearing all black, a silver skull ring on his finger, and a leather necklace with one bead strung onto it.

With a shock, I realized that it was Nico Di Angelo. The same Goth Boy who escorted me out of my old school and into Camp Half-Blood borders safely. I caught his eye and waved. He managed a small smile and waved back.

"Don't." Maddison said. I looked at her confused.

"Don't what?"

"Talk to him. Don't look at him, either."

"Why not?"

"That's why," Taylor pointed over at his direction and I looked back. Some of the jocks who decided they'd be the Ares group went over to him and had picked him up and stuffed him in the trashcan. I glared at the laughing bullies, and-despite Taylor and Maddison's protests-went over to Nico and helped him out.

"Thanks, Jaycee," He mumbled.

"No problem. Anything for a friend, right? At least, that's what my mother says." I smiled at the thought of my mom. She was nice enough, a little short-tempered, but nice all the same. She had curly red hair and warm brown eyes like melted chocolate.

My mom had always told me two different times when she and my dad had met, so I never knew which was true, but now…I guess they both are. The first one she told me, she had said she was helping her parents who had fallen ill by running their shop for a week.

My grandparents' shop happened to be a joke shop. My mom told me that a man-my dad-had walked in with a cocky, bright smile and his teeth were a bright white, almost like diamonds. After that week, she went back to her day job being a dental hygienist (I call those people nurse for teeth) and my dad came in feigning a cavity, insisting that he see Susie Carter.

The other story was that they met after college and everything went from there, my mom having Drew at the age of twenty-six. Four years later my parents had me.

I hadn't noticed I'd walked back to my group, and everyone was staring at me-other than the teacher of course. She just looked at me smiling-and the jocks had stopped their obnoxious laughing and glared at me. Taylor and Maddison just shook their heads in disappointment.

"What?" I asked everybody, glaring at anyone who looked me in the eye. I sat down with the other Apollo 'followers' as Mrs. Alexandra went on about our assignment.

Lunch came round at about 12:37 and I was starving. I entered the lunch room with a sack lunch Sally had packed me. I looked around for Leanne and her friends, but couldn't find them anywhere, so I made my way towards an empty table and sat down. Soon, Leanne and her friends found me.

"Hey, Jaycee," Leanne started, she seemed nervous to be near me. I realized I'd probably glared at her and her friends during Mythology. "What you did today during Mythology…that was pretty brave for someone to help Nico like that. Nobody ever does." The short red-head who was related to Alice-I'm almost positive her name is Ally-sat down across from me as Leanne sat down on my right.

"Yeah. We want to help him, but we just don't really know how. We've offered him our help, but he just says he doesn't need it, you know?" The red-head said. I nodded, understanding Nico completely. I don't want help. I never want help. But I need it. A lot. Unless it comes to being sneaky and pranking people.

"Thanks. It's Ally, right?" I asked the red-head. She smiled and laughed as she shook her head 'no'.

"Close. It's Annette. Annette Pierson."

"Right. I knew that." I said nodded as another girl sat down on Annette's left, and Meg and Lana sat down to mine. Annette pointed to the tall girl next to her who reminded me of Lacy.

"This is Laura Milo," Laura smiled.

"Hi," She said. I smiled, and waved a small wave.

"Hey." Another girl sat down. She was a little bigger than everyone else, reminding me of Vanessa Crumbs.

"I'm Valerie Crumbs. You must be Jaycee Carter. My half-sister's told me about you." She smiled. I didn't now Vanessa had a half-sister. I should pay attention at lunch more often

"Well, now you know everybody!" Leanne said happily. Annette smiled deviously.

"Dou you think we should hold it?" She asked seriously.

"Hold what?" Lana asked cautiously. She had seen me get a look similar to the look on Annette's face, and whatever I had planned when I got that look was never anything good.

"I don't think they're ready," Laura reasoned looking us over. I raised an eyebrow.

"I'm ready! What exactly am I ready for?" I asked defensive.

"If you say so," Valerie mused. She then looked at Leanne who nodded her agreement.

"Friday, my house, be there and all will be revealed." She said mysteriously waving her fingers around. The rest of us laughed or smiled as Leanne handed me a piece of paper with her address.

"Well, this'll be fun. Do I need to bring anything?" Meg wondered.

"You'll need pajamas, an extra set of clothes, and pretty much anything else you'd need for a sleep over." Leanne explained. As soon as she finished her sentence an ear-piercing howl ran through the lunch room.

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><p><strong>So, lame little cliffhanger ending, but, eh. Hope y'all liked it! <strong>

**_~*J.C*~_  
><strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey! Well, no one asked any big questions, but CloverHeart609 asked if it was her Greek instinct that had told Jaycee the right answer.**

****Are you a wizard or something? Haha, yeah, it was :)

**Feel free to ask any questions! Seriously, I love answering them. And I have a small writer's block that is slowly disipitating as I speak-well, type. So, this chapter is sort of short, and I hope you enjoy it! :)**

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><p><span>And We Thought We Were Normal<span>

Jaycee Carter. Normal 13 year old girl, right? Wrong! Her life's been weird since the day she's been born, and now it's just gotten weirder. A Goth boy about her age comes in and tells her she's not normal. Well she knew that much, but when he says the gods from the Greek Myths she loved so much are real and still exist, she's not sure what to think. But she believes it. She's had that feeling for a long time now, and it's only being confirmed for her. Now to just survive middle school in New York with her BFF Meg Andrews and her new friend Goth Boy. What could possibly go wrong?

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><p>Chapter 12<p>

Hallie was covered in pizza sauce, water that was making the make-up department run down her face, an apple was stuck in her mouth like a pig, and some fries were sticking out here and there.

I laughed right there, and felt bad for the poor girl who tripped. She had spiky black hair and dark forest green eyes. When she talked I noticed her green and blue braces. Her diamond stud earrings catching the light and glinting a white color.

"Who's that?" I whispered to Leanne. She looked at me with a sad smile. Annette laughed a little.

"That's Hallie Ross, I thought you knew her!" She joked. I rolled my eyes and sent her a half-hearted glare.

"I meant the girl who's trying to say sorry," I clarified.

"That's Kota Hailey. She's sort of Gothic, but she also likes really bright colors that stand out." I nodded and looked back at Kota. Hallie was yelling her head off as Audrey was yelling at Raven to hurry up and dry Hallie, while all three sent glares every other second at Kota. I started to get up.

"What do you think you're doing?" Valerie hissed. I looked at her.

"I'm going to help Kota. Meg? Lana?" The two exchanged nervous glances. I sighed.

"Fine. I'll go myself," I mumbled disappointed. Half-way to Kota Meg and Lana caught up to me and they each put a hand on my shoulders.

"We're coming with you. Don't worry," Lana said with a smile. Meg nodded vigorously.

"You bet! We're sisters, remember?" Meg bubbled. I laughed and together we continued towards Kota.

"Why I out to report you for purposely dumping your food on me! What did I do to you?" Hallie glared at Kota, who was trying to say she didn't mean to.

"Please, it wasn-" Kota pleaded.

"Save it! You did this on purpose!" Hallie stomped her foot.

"Hey!" I raised my voice at her. "She obviously didn't mean to! She tripped or something, so just leave her alone!" Kota looked at me with pleading eyes. Eyes that said _Shut up! I don't want to make her anymore mad then she already is! _I sighed and shook my head at her, silently telling her that this wasn't over.

"And how do you know Carter? Were you there?" Audrey demanded.

"No, but I know enough to know that you can't report her! It was obviously an accident! Just leave her alone." I said dangerously calm. Raven shivered slightly, and the sunlight that was coming in through the windows seemed to glow ever brighter, almost blinding.

"Girls, I don't think Kota did it on purpose. She probably tripped or something, you know?" Raven tried to reason. Hallie turned her glare to Raven.

"Whose side are you on?" She demanded.

"Whatever side that doesn't get me in trouble!" Raven retorted.

"Well, then maybe you should just go die in a hole!" Hallie screeched.

Meg, Lana, and I took this opportunity to sneak Kota out of the line of fire buy going back into the lunch line and getting her another lunch.

As we were waiting to pay Kota looked at us. "Thanks for your help, but I didn't need it. You probably just made them madder. They'll be out to get you now." She warned.

"They were out to get me as soon as I stepped on school grounds," I waved off her warning.

Meg and Lana just nodded and rolled their eyes. "Jaycee here doesn't like popular people who are bullies." They explained.

Kota laughed. "Popular? Them? Yeah right! They're the 'Wanna-be's'!"

"Well then. They're much worse than the real Preps. Wanna-be's are the worst." I groaned. At least I only had five months of this before I could go back to Camp Half-Blood and maybe make a few friends. That's what my mom would have me do.

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><p>After school, Paul gave us a ride home, and Nico insisted on walking. I found it odd that Paul offered Nico a ride, until Paul explained how Nico sleeps and eats at their house.<p>

When the three of us stepped into our apartment, Lana ran to my room and riffled through my closet. I ran after, Meg hot on my tail.

"What are you doing?" I yelled. Lana laughed then looked back at my clothes and then scowled.

"Okay, only black clothes? Seriously?" She asked, disgusted. "A little black is alright every now and then, but _all the time_? You're a child of Apollo, aren't you supposed to stand out with color or something?"

A memory flashed through my mind of when I was five. I was only a small child, and then my best friends were two guys who lived on my street. I was wearing a dirty orange t-shirt and jean shorts covered in mud. My mom screamed when she walked out and saw me all dirty and a soccer ball at my feet.

She had immediately pulled me inside and made me change. I didn't wear any black then, just bright blue's and green's and orange's and pink's and purple's. I ended up in a bright hot pink t-shirt and khaki Bermuda's. My friends said I looked like a pink flower with a khaki stem and a head.

A sad smile played on my face as I snapped out of my small memory. Now-a-days me and my old friends don't talk to the other. We don't know why, we just gradually stopped talking to each other. They still lived in the same house and we'd see each other at the bus stop every day. Now I live in New York and don't see them at all.

"Jay?" Meg waved her hand in front of my face.

"What?"

"We are taking you shopping! And we're getting rid of all your black clothes!" Lana said, glaring at the pile of black on the floor.

My eyes widened and I looked at her. I pounced on the pile and started to dig threw it till I found what I was looking for. I pulled out the black shirt with random things spelling 'L-O-V-E' down the side. The 'L' were two rulers, the 'O' a ring, the 'V' a protractor, and the 'E' in fancy script. It was one of my favorite shirts.

"If I have to get rid of it all, then I get to keep this one shirt. Just this one!" I pleaded with my best puppy-dog face. Immediately Lana started to shift uncomfortably, eyeing the shirt then me then looking at Meg for help. Finally, she sighed in defeat.

"Well, it is cute," She sighed. "I guess." I jumped up and put it back on its hanger. Then Lana and Meg linked their arms through mine and dragged me out the door, Lana's purse in hand. Even though she was thirteen, her dad trusted her with a credit card.

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><p><strong>So...How was it? Do y'all still like it? Cause most of these events are real and have actually happened to me, and I hope some of you can relate to being bullied and hope none of you become like my character Hallie Ross who is a real person, just with a name change! <strong>

**Funny thing I heard today!:**

**"One who goes to bed with an itchy butt wakes up with stinky fingers" -Neighbor  
><strong>

**_~*J.C*~_  
><strong>


	13. I Get a Visitor!

**Hey, if you're waiting for me to update my Mark of Athena fanfic, sorry, writer's block on that story. It's nearly impossible to have it for this one, since most events are true ones you know? Hmmm...any questions asked? Well, let's see! *flips through reviews* Mmm-hmmm Mmmm-hmmm.**

**Percy Jackson Fan oO asked-and I'm going to quote the question word for word!-will Jaycee and Conner um... get paired up?**

****It's possible! If y'all think they should, they can, but if you don't want them too they don't have too! *Blushes slightly as Meg whispers in my ear* Meg shut up! No you can't have the-Hey! It's Meg Andrews! You know, one of the story characters? Well, yeah, in my opinion they'll get together by the time this story is over!-Hey, I stole the computer's keyboard, MWAHAHA! It's Lana Austin if you didn't know! And if they're not together, I swear I'll-OKAY! It's back to me, pjoroxs, also known as Jaycee! I am so sorry about my friends! -_- *Glares at the two* Shut up, you two!

Meg: Make us!

Me: If you say so!

Lana: You shouldn't have-*Both get duct taped.

Me: Silence may be golden, girls, but duct tape is silver. Also orange, and pink, and camouflage, and all those new duct tape colors.

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><p><span>And We Thought We Were Normal<span>

Jaycee Carter. Normal 13 year old girl, right? Wrong! Her life's been weird since the day she's been born, and now it's just gotten weirder. A Goth boy about her age comes in and tells her she's not normal. Well she knew that much, but when he says the gods from the Greek Myths she loved so much are real and still exist, she's not sure what to think. But she believes it. She's had that feeling for a long time now, and it's only being confirmed for her. Now to just survive middle school in New York with her BFF Meg Andrews and her new friend Goth Boy. What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

><p>Chapter 13- I get a Visitor<p>

I can stand shopping at times. What I can't stand is shopping with Lana Austin. She may be…well, _Lana_, but when it comes to shopping, she is definitely a true Aphrodite girl. She pretty much dragged me by the wrist to the nearest mall, Meg hanging on to my arm for dear life. So, I'll warn you now. _NEVER GO SHOPPING WITH LANA AUSTIN! _

As soon as we stepped foot in the mall, I knew I wouldn't be home for a long, _long, _time.

The whole time in the store, Lana was looking at the bright colored shirts that were plain and dull to me. I honestly haven't a clue why I don't wear bright colors anymore. Oh wait. I do. And it made me sick thinking I used to be like _them_-though, with less make-up-even if I was in, like, third grade. It's the reason why I can't stand people like Hallie and Audrey and why I want to help people being bullied by people like them. It just makes me mad that I used to be like _them_. That just proves how much the world is messed up.

So, the whole time, I'm pretty much sitting there or browsing through graphic tees that say stuff like 'Just Hangin' with my Peeps' then have a picture of a bunch of the little marshmallow Peeps for Easter. Now only if I could get Lana over here to approve some of these, then I wouldn't mind giving up the color black so much.

Meg walked up behind me, and started browsing as well. She pulled out a grey belly top with three horizontal rips, and a tan tank top under it with blue horizontal stripes. On the grey it had music notes and some faded darker grey detailed butterflies, and just some random creative blue and grey lines that weaved its way through the grey top.

Lana looked over and saw Meg holding the top out to me and yelled, "PERFECT!"

Lana ran over and grabbed the top, squealing her head off. "This is so you! Now I know, somewhat, what to look for!"

I rolled my eyes, but took the top anyway. "It's cool, I guess."

I continued to look through the graphic tees. Now Lana and Meg were looking through them as well. We pretty much got any that had anything to do with music, because-as Lana and Meg say-my dad is Apollo the god of music, and I love music. So I really didn't mind, using the excuse myself.

* * *

><p>I ended up with a whole new wardrobe entirely. I had a range of colors from purple to yellow to blue to orange. Colors I normally wouldn't be caught dead in. Lana even made me get a couple pink shirts, that I was not to happy with.<p>

I had new jeans as well. Skinny jeans boot-cut jeans, flared jeans, and a lot of ripped jeans. Like the top Meg found, ripped jeans were just my style. Not the overly ripped jeans that made you look like a homeless person, but the kind of ripped jeans with rips on the knees and some lower. Eh, you know what I'm talking 'bout.

To be honest with myself, I was almost happy not to be wearing a bunch of black, but I now felt as if I'll stand out with all the color. At least with the black I wasn't noticed. And I really, _really_, don't want to be noticed.

We arrived at the apartment complex, my arms as stiff as tree limbs. I was extremely tired now, and wanted to go upstairs and maybe open a window and sleep. Why open a window while sleeping? Because there was no fan in my room, and if I don't have a cool breeze circulating in my room, I'll over heat.

Meg, Lana, and I walked into the building, with a bunch of bags. _I hope Lana still even has money on that little plastic card of hers…._I thought as I absent-mindedly waved at the lady behind the desk and got in the elevator with the other two.

* * *

><p>When I entered my room, I threw the bags onto the floor, and then threw the ones Lana and Meg carried for me onto the floor as well. I wondered what would happen if my old friends visited and saw me in one of these outfits. I bet they'd say, <em>Who are you and what have you done with Jaycee Carter? <em>Camp probably wouldn't think too much of it, but without all the black, midnight pranks may be a little harder, because I won't blend in with the darkness anymore.

Speaking of Camp, I wonder if Drew ever found out that it was _me _who played that wonderfully hilarious prank on her?

I decided not to think about it. I pulled out my iPod and stuck the headphones in my ears as I laid down on my bed in our apartment. I turned the iPod on to the first song that popped up. _Eyes Open _by Taylor Swift came on. I had only heard the song once or twice, but I already knew all the words. Singing along to the song, certain lyrics I loved, I smiled a true, genuine smile that almost never is seen on my face. It was one of those smiles I could and would only wear when I'm completely me. That means either playing pranks to pass the time, writing songs, or singing random songs on Pandora Radio or just random songs on my iPod-as long as it's not Justin Bieber of course. I mean, seriously? What kind of guy has a perfume line?

I just focused on the song and sang along, shaking the thoughts of Justine Bieber out of my head as the song filled my ears.

"_Everybody's waiting for to you breakdown _

_Everybody's watching to see the fallout._

_Even when you're sleepen', sleepe-en_

_Gotta keep your e-eyes open._"

I sang along to the song, forgetting my window was even open, until I felt the chilling breeze. Even though it was winter, it felt more like spring, only with a little frost and cold breezes. And that's when I heard it.

I grabbed my bow off my dresser-that was luckily right next to me-and notched an arrow quickly, aiming it at the heart of…..

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><p><strong>So, how was it? More importantly, <em>WHO <em>is it?**

**Meg: I bet you it's-**

**Me: Shut up! You'll spoil it!**

**Lana: Katniss Everdeen!**

**Me: Lana, that's a totally different book series!**

**Lana: So? Make it a cross over!**

**Me: *Shakes head* The Hunger Games happens in the future when North America is replaced by Panem. We wouldn't exist! To them we're ancient historical figures! Actually to them, we're like the Ancient Greeks!**

**Lana: So...we're old, is that what you're saying?**

**Meg and I: *Shakes head at her* Lana, Lana, Lana...**

_**~*J.C*~**_


	14. What the Hades?

**Hey! You know, I'm still only gettin', like, one review per chapter, which is okay, but I like to hear from y'all...though most of you probably review my MoA story, which I bet if it were Riordan he'd be ending _that_ on a cliffhanger too, telling me I'm good on my story. But that's _that_ story. I like to hear what you think of _this _story, you know? Cause-I've said this before and I'll say it again-this is real life things that have happened to me (No, no one's ever crawled into my house through a window! I don't live in an apartment, so I'm making that stuff up, like my Apollo powers!), and it's all written down here pretty much. My way of getting back at-as you all know her-Hallie Ross, though she'd never be caught dead with a book to read for fun, so she'd never _ever _get on Fanfiction. But I enjoy my demigod life, and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as the Percy Jackson books-less being okay! :) **

**Yeah...so hearing you're thoughts on this story-and my House of Anubis crossover with Percy Jackson called House of Half-Bloods-helps me write original stories that only I have read the entire thing too. My friend read the first couple sentences an shivered saying it was creepy. :) Silly-as you know her-Annette...she knows I love her! In a sisterly way of course!**

**Annette: *Hugs from behind* I love you in a sisterly way too! Because I'm in the closet!**

**Me: *pats Annette's head* I know...you've said it 'bout fifty times...(Help me!)**

* * *

><p><span>And We Thought We Were Normal<span>

Jaycee Carter. Normal 13 year old girl, right? Wrong! Her life's been weird since the day she's been born, and now it's just gotten weirder. A Goth boy about her age comes in and tells her she's not normal. Well she knew that much, but when he says the gods from the Greek Myths she loved so much are real and still exist, she's not sure what to think. But she believes it. She's had that feeling for a long time now, and it's only being confirmed for her. Now to just survive middle school in New York with her BFF Meg Andrews and her new friend Goth Boy. What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

><p>Chapter 14-What the Hades?<p>

I sighed when I saw it wasn't a monster, but got worried again as soon as the sigh left my lips.

There stood Nico Di Angelo, jacket torn to shreds, a black eye, shirt in pieces, and a few new holes in his jeans.

"Nico! What the Hades happened to you?" I asked worried, placing my bow down and racing towards him, gingerly touching the bruising eye. "Who did this?"

Nico only swallowed, sounding as though he was deprived of water. I called out to Meg.

"MEG! GET ME A GLASS OF WATER! STAT!" I called as if it were life or death in a hospital. I could hear footsteps rushing around and the sound of glasses clanking together as Meg fished around for a glass. I continued to examine Nico's wounds-discovering a few scars that looked suspiciously like claw marks.

When Meg entered, I had Nico hunched over so I could tend to the wounds on his back that didn't really want to stop bleeding. Good thing Aunt Sally had given me that Neosporin. Meg handed me the glass of water, and I set it down on the table as Meg pounded Nico with questions he wouldn't be able to answer.

As I continued to look at the wounds, I noticed they were deeper than I thought, like someone had taken a knife and used Nico's back like a sharpening post. _Oh, gods, _I thought. _What am I going to do? What am I going to do? I don't know how to heal anyone like the rest of my cabin!_

I tenderly touched the scar that was forming, blood now staining my fingers. I prayed to Apollo to help me with this one. I closed my eyes as the warm, sticky wetness of Nico's blood continued to cover my fingers. I pictured the wounds closing, or at least stop bleeding, until the scars were just that, scars.

When the warm, sticky wetness wasn't as warm and sticky at my touch, I opened my eyes slightly. Nico was still hunched over as I'd left him, but his scars were no longer pouring out blood like a waterfall.

_I did it! _I thought. _I did it!...Thank you….Dad. _Even in my thoughts that was a bit awkward. And I definitely didn't expect a response.

_No problem, girlie! You'll get the hang of it, I'm sure! Oooh! Haiku time!_

_Jay can heal people_

_She can heal peeps with my help_

_I am so awesome!_

I decided there was a good place to stop talking to him. Who knew the god of poetry wouldn't be too good at it?

Nico must've noticed that he was no longer bleeding like a mad man, as he reached his own hand behind his back and felt along the edge of his new scars. He then grabbed the glass of water eagerly and gulped it down. He then wiped his mouth and sighed.

"Thank you," His voice was still a little raspy. "And sorry. I meant to go to Percy's room, but entered here instead. But your singing was wonderful!"

Sure, that compliment was probably another _I'm sorry I barged into your room, so I'll compliment you to get off the hook! _I just rolled my eyes and Meg and Lana smiled. They glanced at each other then at me.

"What?" I asked them. Sometimes they were really annoying with their silent conversations. Though I knew what they were thinking. Like _that'd_ ever happen! I wouldn't _allow_ it to happen! I scowled at the two.

"Well, Di Angelo, you still haven't answered my question on who did this to you."

"Oh, that…." Nico trailed off. "Well, I was just walking around when Cole and his buddies came up and decided to beat me up. Gave me the black eye, but nothing else. Then on my way back home-ish so I could get a good home cooked meal, a couple _dracaena _attacked me from behind. Ripped my jacket and t-shirt to shreds while they were at it."

I raised an eyebrow. "How exactly do you even live in the mortal world?"

"I try to walk around in crowded mortal areas. You know, mask the death and just look like any other Emo on the street. At least that's what Thalia says I look like." He shrugged then made his way to the door and tried to walk out of our apartment like nothing happened. Then he stopped in the middle of the hallway, and stuck his head into the frame.

"And I almost forgot! I stopped by Camp Half-Blood and as Conner ran away from a cursing Clarisse, he told me to tell you 'hi' and that he and Travis may need to hide out here for a while….though I think he was joking…." Nico said.

I raised my eyebrows in shock. Seriously? I hope they were joking! No, they better be joking, cause if those two show up crawling through my window from the fire escape, I don't know what I'll do.

Nico started to walk out again, but right when his fingertips hit the handle he stopped yet again. "And Jaycee? Your brother says that if any guys hit on you, just call him. He'd be more than willing to put a few arrows through their heads."

And instead of opening the door, Nico turned into a puff of black smoke as he shadow-traveled back to Percy's apartment, probably to get that home-cooked meal Sally's making.

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><p><strong>Seems a bit shorter, but ah, well, I had a long author's note! So, I'd appreciate it if you said what you think! Okay? Don't care if it's mean, nice, flame, or whatever! Okay, later!<strong>

**Me: *Does my weird wave/two-fingered salute thing***

_**~*J.C*~**_


	15. My Conversation with the Ghost King

**Hey, hey, I'm not even going to bother telling you all why I haven't updated in forever! I'm just going to hopefully make it up to y'all. And I'm warning you about a minor language slip, just in case! **

**I've gotten a couple PM's from some people who were begging me to set Jaycee and Conner up, so I want to hear your thoughts on that. Yeah...so ENJOY!  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 15-My Conversation with the Ghost King<p>

After dinner that Aunt Sally had brought over, I laid in bed, staring at my ceiling. Not thinking at all, just staring. I guess I was sort of thinking about what had happened earlier. The whole 'healing-Nico-with-weird-powers' thing, then about what Nico said after dinner.

* * *

><p><em>Nico followed Aunt Sally into the apartment as she delivered dinner to us. We were just sitting, finishing up our homework. Well, Lana and I were. Meg finished all her work in class, and was now reading a book. Sally set the plates on the table. I had told her we could go over there and eat, but she insisted on making us feel like royalty and deliver the food to us.<em>

_After she had set down the plates full of food, she dusted her hands off, and smiled at us. _

_"Is there anything else I can get you girls?" Aunt Sally asked, smiling and happy as always. She rarely ever got mad, and when she did it wasn't for long, even when I….broke a couple things. My mom on the other hand, yelled at me to no end._

_"No, thanks, Mrs. Blofis," Meg smiled. "I think we're all set here!" _

_Aunt Sally laughed, "No need to call me Mrs. Blofis. It makes me feel old. Please, call me Sally." _

_Meg smiled and nodded her head as she went back to her book. I snuck a peak at the title. It was _Catching Fire _by Suzanne Collins. This was…what? The fifth time she's read it? And she hasn't even read a single Harry Potter book, yet she reads the same book five times! _

_I looked up from my homework as Aunt Sally started to leave out the door. Nico still stood there behind us. I went back to working on the math problem that was set in front of me. The problem read 'Find x and y if point A is 48 degrees and point B is 65 degrees. What type of triangle is this?' _

_I raised my eyebrow at the problem as Nico coughed. I sighed in frustration and looked back at him._

_"Yes?" I asked._

_"Could I talk to you a minute?" He said, not waiting for a reply as he started to walk to what we deemed 'the living room'._

_I sighed again as I left my frustrating math problem at the table and got up to follow Nico. When I entered our little living room, he was sitting on the couch, lounging back without a care in the world._

_"He likes you," He stated, plain and blunt._

_"What? Who? What?" I was confused. The only thing going through my head was _What?

_"Conner. Crush. You. Understand?"_

_"Conner's going to crush me?" I joked, smiling a little at the pathetic attempt at a joke. _

_Nico hit his forehead and mumbled something inaudible under his breath. "Conner has a crush on you. He didn't want me to tell you, but I had to anyway. That and since I did, Travis is going to give me fifteen drachmas. Now the question is…Do you like Conner?"_

_My eyebrows rose in surprise. When Nico said he needed to talk to me, I definitely didn't expect this. _

_Another reason, Conner liked _me_? I honestly didn't see what was so great about me, I was just…._me_. That was all anyone really needed to be. Themselves, nobody but themselves. At least, that's what my dad-who's-not-really-my-dad had told me when I was little and Audrey Plow had moved into town. He had told me that if I'm myself, then I'll always be popular, just not in the way that I was thinking. _

_I now know what he meant by not the same as what I was thinking thing. Yeah, sure, I'm popular, in a way. I'm popular for being different then other girls like Audrey and Hallie, and that's not always a good thing. Especially since that always makes you their target. _

_I swallowed and didn't answer. I just stared at Nico. "Hello?" He asked waving his hand in front of my face._

_I blinked and shook my head, "I'm sorry, what?"_

_Nico sighed. "Whatever, never mind that. Travis also needs a favor. Don't tell anyone, but he and Katie are secretly going to give this dating thing a try," Nico said sarcastically, smirking, "but Katie won't go on a date _alone _with Travis, so she said Conner has to go too. And Conner needs his own date, so they're begging me to ask you to join them."_

_I shook my head 'no'. "Can't, sorry, I…uh…don't do dresses! Sorry."_

_Nico laughed, "Oh, yeah, did I forget to say that they already told Katie you were going to be Conner's date?"_

_I glared at him. "Yes, in fact, you did forget!"_

_"Katie'll be here tomorrow after you get home from school to help you with an outfit. Now I've got to go." Nico smiled as he got up and walked away and out the door, leaving me fuming in my seat._

I sighed, now back to the present, un-able to find sleep. I looked at the clock by my bed. 1:43 A.M. and I couldn't find sleep. Great. I'm going to be a joy in school tomorrow….well, today. I reached under my bed for my sketch pad. The doctor said that if I couldn't find sleep in thirty minutes that I should get up and do something, but I was comfortable.

I finally grabbed the sketch pad and flipped it open. It opened to my own portrait. It was based off my best picture, and when my friends looked at it, they said it was a drawn replica. I flipped through until I found a blank page to capture my Aunt Sally bringing over blue chocolate chip cookies.

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><p><em>Beep. Beep. Beep. <em>I slammed my hand down on the snooze button. I had only gotten a total of three hours of sleep, and it wasn't even in a row. I had gotten about fifteen minutes of sleep before my beeper went off.

I sighed and forced myself out of bed and went towards my closet. I rummaged through it until I came across a graphic tee that read 'Without Music, My Life would b-flat'. I quickly slipped on the shirt and put on some dark jeans. I rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands, yawning, as I walked into the kitchen to see Meg sitting in a chair sipping a cup of two percent milk, munching on one of the cookies Sally had brought over the other night.

"Morning, Jay," She said. She's too cheery in the morning if you ask me. Lana walked into the kitchen at that moment.

"Morning girls! You guys excited, or what?" Scratch that, they're _both _too cheery in the morning.

"Uhh, why are we supposed to be excited?" I asked, mumbling into the table as I sat down and laid my head on the table.

"Because it's Friday! Remember Leanne's invite?" Lana bubbled. I groaned.

"No, I totally forgot! Shit!"

Meg laughed as Lana gasped. "Jaycee Dawn Carter! _Language!_"

"Sorry, Mom," I mumbled.

Meg stopped laughing so hard, and chuckled, "What's with all the doom and gloom?"

"I'm pretty much being forced to go on a double date today after school. So, I'll be late to Leanne's, depending on how long this'll be."

Lana squealed, completely forgetting about my slip-up, "With who?"

"Why do you care?" I snapped.

"Cause I'm your friend and I want to pick out your outfit!" Lana placed a hand on her hip, striking a diva pose, reminding me too much of Drew from the Aphrodite Cabin.

"Well," I muttered, "apparently Katie's coming over after school to give me the details about this 'date'. So I'm assuming she'll be helping with the outfit, so you'll have to talk with her."

I got up out of my chair and looked at the calendar. It was hard to believe that three days had passed already, and it was now mid-January. January 14. A couple more months and my birthday would roll around, making me fourteen.

"Jaycee!" Lana nearly screamed.

"What?" I whined, annoyed with her now.

"She really wants to know who your 'date' is." Meg said, slightly bored, as she finger quoted the word date. Meg-after her first boyfriend-decided middle school dating just wasn't even real. It was just a title you held as a couple.

"You really want to know?" I asked tiredly.

"Yes!" Lana jumped up and down in her seat.

"Fine. But you can't be all Aphrodite on us when I tell you!" Then I mumbled inaudibly, "After this I'm going to need to do some serious pranking."

"Fine! Fine, just spill already!"

"It's Conner," I mumbled, "Conner Stoll, Hermes Cabin, one of two pranking Camp geniuses."

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><p><strong>So, review, I guess, and tell me what you think about this chapter! <strong>

**Random Question: Have any of you watched the show _H2O: Just Add Water_? I watched the whole series on Netflix because I saw ONE episode on the TV and I wanted to see the rest. o.O  
><strong>

**_~*J.C*~_  
><strong>


	16. Mythology Class Helpers

**Hey, y'all, quicker update! Yay! I think I'm going to ask Random Chapter Questions all the time now, I got twice as many reviews as normal XD ANYWAY!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the Percy Jackson series, its characters, and anything else that obviously belongs to the mastermind Rick Riordan! I do, however, own Jaycee Carter, Meg Andrews, Lana Austin, and any other unfamiliar characters you may see!  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 16-Mythology Class Helpers<p>

Lana couldn't contain her excitement. I had to go find some duct tape and tape her mouth shut until she stopped squealing. By the time she finally shut up and (tried) to ask us to take the tape off of her mouth, we were on our way to Mythology class and people were starting to look at her funny.

"I knew it! I knew it, I knew it! I knew it would happ-" I clamped my hand over Lana's mouth as Meg rubbed her temples, signaling if Lana didn't shut up now she'd get a headache, but at the same time she was smirking knowingly.

Meg then leaned over to Lana and whispered in her ear, bringing a face to the surface, which meant that whatever Meg had said, it was taking everything for Lana not to squeal like Aphrodite when she found out Percy and Annabeth had started officially dating.

"What?" I asked slowly and cautiously, knowing whatever that was said wasn't good for me.

I never got my answer thanks to Leanne joining us as we walked into the Mythology classroom. I shouldn't have been surprised when I sat down and Mrs. Alexandra had brought over two high school students that were most likely excelling in this subject. And I really shouldn't have been surprised when it turned out to be Percy and Annabeth standing at the front of the room smiling at me, Meg, Lana, and Nico. I immediately put my hood up and tried to blend in with my chair as I sunk lower and lower trying to avoid their eyes and hoping against hope that they didn't really know who I was and they were just smiling to be friendly.

I noticed Nico a few seats over doing the same as Percy looked his way.

"Well, class, let's say 'Hello!' to the two high schoolers who have agreed to help me teach Mythology this next week," Mrs. Alexandra said, smiling and cheerful, wearing a bright white Greek chiton with gold trim.

The class mumbled a few 'hi's and 'hey's and I could hear Meg say a proper 'hello' and Annabeth smiled and waved at her half-sister.

Mrs. Alexandra nodded at my cousin and his girlfriend, urging them to introduce themselves.

"Hey," Percy said lamely as he raised his hand in greeting. Then he made the stupid alien peace sign with his hand, "We come in peace!"

He got a few weak laughs and Annabeth nudged him as she rolled her eyes and smiled lightly. "I'm Annabeth Chase, and this idiot here is my boyfriend Percy Jackson."

One of the girls who had chosen Aphrodite as the god or goddess giggled and waved her hand wildly. "Percy Jackson! My sister tells me about him! My name's Audrey Plow, and my sister's Erica! Know her?"

Audrey seemed on the edge of her seat waiting for their reaction. She was shocked at what she got.

Anger and irritation flashed in both Percy and Annabeth's eyes.

"Yeah. We know her," Annabeth mumbled. I could hear Audrey from all the way over here on the other side of the room whispering to the rest of the Aphrodite Preps and Lana.

"My sister also told me that Annie over there is a real bitch. She stole Percy away from my sister! Right when they were about to start dating too."

Irritated and tired of Audrey spreading lies, I scowled and looked over at her and said loud and clear, "She did not! Those two have been dating since…uhh….hold on…" I raked my brain to remember, "…OH, yeah! The end of summer! So don't go spreading lies about my cousin's girlfriend, got it?"

My outburst was followed by silence, and people staring at me unbelievingly.

Percy smirked as Annabeth raised an eyebrow at me, a small smile playing on her lips. I blushed a nice bright scarlet as my hood fell away, and sunk lower in my chair, wishing I could disappear. I'm very temperamental, have you noticed? I've been working on it though.

"Jaycee's your cousin, Mr. Jackson?" Mrs. A asked Percy. "Well, that's news for me!"

Percy smiled and gave a slight nod. "She's my stepfather Paul's niece."

"Oh! Mr. Blofis the high school English teacher! What a nice man he is. Go on, continue telling us about yourselves."

Percy's smile grew wider as he looked at Nico. "Well, if we're talking about our family…"

Nico shook his head furiously. I felt for Nico, knowing what Percy was about to do. An idea suddenly sprang in my head and a devilish smile crossed my face.

"Don't say it, Perce! I'll get Thalia on you! It's bad enough that the Camp knows, but not the whole Jr. High population! News spreads faster than wild fire! Thalia will kill you!" Nico squeaked out threats as Percy's smile turned devilish, something that would've made his Uncle Hades proud.

"C'mon, Nico!" Percy strode over to where Nico sat alone at a table designated for Hades. Nico tried to get up to run away, maybe hide in the trashcan a bit, but Percy was faster, and he threw his arms over Nico's shoulders and gave his shaggy hair a tussle.

"Little Nico here's my cousin, too, on my real dad's side of the family," Percy said, smiling as Nico desperately tried to get away, looking at Annabeth with pleading eyes. Annie though couldn't stop laughing as Nico desperately tried to escape Percy's grip.

"Please, Percy! Let go!" Nico whined. Half the class was laughing as the two continued to wrestle each other like two brothers.

Annabeth finally regained breath and hit a nerve in Percy's arm. Annabeth pulled back her hand in pain, forgetting about Percy's invincibility, making Nico laugh lightly and breathe deeply as Percy let go of Nico to check on her.

"Oh, gods, Annabeth! You okay?" Percy's voice was so full of concern….I wonder what his face is going to look like when he gets home. I should set up a camera to take a photo….Annabeth smiled at him.

"I'm fine. Pain is nothing," Annie smiled at Percy who rolled his eyes as they made their way back to the front.

"Anyway," Annabeth continued, "on the topic of family, Meg over there is my half-sister."

Meg only smiled, and the lesson continued, Percy and Annabeth talking about themselves and why they were doing so well in the subject ('My mom is _really _into this stuff, and the few times I've seen her, it's all she talks about' and 'My mom's been writing stories related to the subject, and my dad really likes it…), which was a total lie. Annabeth's mom wasn't just really into it, and Percy's dad didn't just really like it, they were _it_. But, you can't say that to a giant school of mortals. They'd just think you'd gone crazy and get you the 'special jacket' that makes you hug yourself.

This was going to be a long (next) week.

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><p><strong>So...do I have a Random Chapter Question? Let's see...<strong>

**Random Chapter Question!: What's your guys' favorite book?  
><strong>

**Chapter Related Question: If you could pair up two characters in this story with any other character in this story, who would it be? Try not to say 'Percabeth' or 'Tratie' those are givens!  
><strong>

**_~*J.C*~_  
><strong>


	17. The Son of Iris

**Helloooooo, people of Fanfiction! I'm disappointed to see that _NOBODY _answered my chapter related question, and just my random question. Makes me sad that no one answered it, cause I seriously need-okay _want_-your opinion on this stuff! M'kay?**

**Oh, and Meg, if you are reading this-HI! Leave an anonymous review saying 'HI!' back, got it? X) Love you, my wonderful somehow-not-related twin of mine!  
><strong>

**LOL, sorry to all you others who are confused.  
><strong>

**My BFF who Meg is based off of is like my exact copy, except were flipped inside out. X) We're Yin and Yang, haha. I'm depressed on the outside, she's depressed on the inside. She's happy on the outside, I'm happy on the inside. See?  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 17- The Son of Iris<p>

"_Seriously_?" Annette nearly screamed, earning a few confused and weird looks thrown towards our lunch table, along with a smirking son of Hades that was trying hard not to laugh.

I sent a glare his way, telling him what should've been obvious. I was not happy about this.

"Yeah, seriously," I said with a sigh. "Sorry, Leanne, but I'll be late. I'll try and duck out of there as fast as possible though."

Leanne chuckled and shook her head. "No problem, Jaycee! We wouldn't want you to miss your _date_."

She seemed oddly okay with this….

The table was thrown into laughter as I buried my face behind my hand in shame. Laura looked at me, a little jealousy in her eyes.

"I wish _I _could go on a date. Even if I was forced into it," Laura sighed as Valerie lightly shoved her. But Valerie was bigger and stronger, and even a light shove knocked Laura off her chair and onto the floor.

"You _always _want to go on a date, or get a boyfriend," Annette rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't be talking, Anne. We know you have a crush on Eddy Dubb," Leanne smiled as Annette turned as red as her fiery hair. Laura scrambled back onto her seat and decided to change the subject.

"So, how's the weather?" Laura asked, semi-serious as she took a bite of salad.

I raised my eyebrow at her. "Anyway-"

"What's he like?"

"What's he look like?"

"Does he like dogs?"

My new friends pounded me. They all leaned forward, anticipating what I was going to say. I sighed as I closed my eyes and split a blue chocolate chip cookie from Sally in half. I gave one half to Lana and the other to Meg as I took a bite into a whole one.

"He's…a prankster to say the least. He's tall, curly brown hair, shining blue eyes, older brother looks nearly exactly like him except taller. And I don't know if he likes dogs." I answered slowly, raising my eyebrow and cocking my head slightly to the side at that last one.

"His name's Conner, by the way. I'm surprised nobody asked for his name…."

Meg got a guilty look on her face as Lana and the rest of the table smiled slightly, though they had a plan going on…

Hmmm…..

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><p>I was walking up the stairs to our apartment with Lana and Meg when I heard it.<p>

A low growl, some stumbled footsteps, the heavy breaths of man or beast. I shoved my bag to Lana and ran upstairs for my bow. The growling was coming closer and there was a strangled cry. I tripped on the last step and fell to the floor, landing on the face-first on the ground.

A patch of sunlight stretched down the hall from the window to my left. The growling monster was coming ever closer, the scrambling footsteps ever smaller, the breathing heavier than ever and slowing rapidly.

That's when it came closer towards me. A hellhound-luckily not the biggest hellhound ever-that just barely fit in the hallway, was on top a teenage boy with messy black hair who was wearing a white and black diagonally stripped hoodie.

The monster was growling, lowering its head to bite the teen's head off when I raised my hand, knowing the boy was a goner and I was too far away to help-not to mention defenseless, and looked away.

But when I looked back, the boy was standing, the monster pawing at its eyes as if it couldn't see anymore.

The boy was rubbing his own eyes with his hand like he might be going blind too.

I quickly scrambled to my feet as the boy-who had quickly recovered from his momentary blindness-ran his sword through the monster's chest as it rolled over slightly, shaking the building.

Meg and Lana scrambled up the stairs right when I got to the boy.

"Jaycee! Where did you go?" Meg called.

"Who are you?" I asked the boy. He looked familiar, and at first I thought it was Percy, but Percy wasn't wearing a hoodie today, plus he and Annabeth were taking a trip to Olympus to oversee some minor adjustments.

The boy had messy black hair, and pale-like _blind _pale-green eyes, and pale skin that looked as though it never had seen sunlight before.

He raised his sword defensively in the opposite direction. "Who's there?" His voice was shaky, and he was obviously scared.

"Hello? I'm to your right, and your sword's in the opposite direction," I answered confused. Was he really blind? I thought that was momentary. Maybe he started to see…then was confused and started to rub his eyes to see if it was true.

The boy turned sharply towards the sound of my voice, and placed the tip under my neck.

"Who are you? Why are you here? Not because you want to kill me, right?"

"I'm Jaycee Carter. I live in this building on this floor. Why would I want to kill a fellow demigod?"

He dug the point under my chin a little. "How'd you know I'm a demigod?"

"Dude, the sword kinda gave it away."

"Oh, right," He said sheepishly as he lowered the point. "I'm Noah White, son of Iris."

"Right, I'm a daughter of Apollo."

"I can tell. I may be blind, but everyone has an aura, and yours definitely screams the music god."

I crossed my arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Your three friends are coming by the way."

Three?

I turned to see Meg, Lana-who was strangely blushing a light pink, either from rushing up here or because she thought Noah was cute, and Katie Gardener-obviously confused. She must've come out of our apartment thanks to all this noise we were making.

"Jay! What-were-you-thinking!" Lana said through gasps of air.

"Well, I heard a noise, came up here, helped this guy beat a hellhound, we talked a little, now you three showed up," I shrugged as if it were no big deal. Meg looked at me like I was crazy.

"What guy?" Meg looked around me, trying to spot someone. I turned around confused, but didn't find Noah behind me like he had been.

"I saw him! He had messy black hair and really pale skin, and great clothes!" Lana gushed, blushing even more with every word.

"Well, I didn't! And, frankly, right now, I don't care. I have my first date with Travis to worry about." Katie said using lots of hand gestures showing she was rather nervous.

I looked at Katie, an eyebrow raised. "At least you two will be actually talking," I mumbled.

"What was that?" She asked.

"Nothing."

* * *

><p>Back in the apartment, Lana and Katie were rummaging through my closet, though why Lana was rummaging, I don't know. She knew every fabric that was in there, considering she helped pick it all out, not to mention <em>pay <em>for it all.

I was browsing through my Linkin Park albums, when I decided it was time to pull my prank.

"Guys, I'll be right back. You two can keep looking," I announced.

They didn't even glance at me.

"Uh-huh."

"Have fun. Be back soon, though."

I sighed as I exited the door and made my way quickly to Lana's room-where I know for a fact was a key ingredient to my plan.

I opened the door and went over to Lana's vanity which was piled with a couple nail polish bottles, some hair ties, some light make-up material, and…aha! Perfume bottles.

I smiled as I grabbed the girliest smell that made me gag. I covered my mouth and nose with my shirt as I quietly made my way out of our apartment and into the Blofis-Jackson residence. Sally must've been working, and Paul must've gone out.

I snuck into Percy's room with the bottle-my mouth still covered-and uncapped the bottle as I closed the door. I smiled inwardly as I started to spray it.

In total, I sprayed the whole room five times.

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><p><strong>So, so, so,so...Review! NOW! I command you! <strong>

**Naw, I'm kidding all you dudes out there. The only one I'm ordering to review is Meg :P  
><strong>

**Anyway, The Serpent's Shadow! I'm nearly finished with it! So for my Random Chapter Question...  
><strong>

**How do you all like The Serpent's Shadow? Or have you not gotten it yet?  
><strong>

**Chapter Related Question! _Please ANSWER!_: Look at the Chapter Related Question on chapter 16.**

**Now, I shall answer my own Random Chapter Question from last chapter!  
><strong>

_My favorite book...hmm...so many good books to choose from! It's nearly impossible! I'm surprised I even asked the question, haha. Well, I have no one specific favorite book, but here's my favorite series-es._**  
><strong>

_1. Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus  
><em>

_2. Harry Potter  
><em>

_3. The Hunger Games Trilogy  
><em>

_4. The Kane Chronicles  
><em>

**What was I going to-OH YEAH! Riordan is teasing us! Spoiler for TSS (The Serpent's Shadow)!: Drew and Lacey from The Lost Hero make an appearance in TSS! I was like 'Riordan, you menace! Stop teasing me, and just make a cross-over already!' They were seriously soooo close to finding out about each other.**_  
><em>

**And you knew it was the Drew and Lacey, because, guess what. Lacey's friends with Sadie and told Sadie that she and Drew go to a summer camp together every summer. Hmm, what summer camp could it be? *Fake Gasp*  
><strong>

**So, I have another, rather serious, question to ask you all.  
><strong>

**How would you like me, pjoroxs, to write a Kane Chronicles/Percy Jackson cross-over? Good or bad idea?  
><strong>

**Well, that's all folks! Tune in next time!  
><strong>

**_~*J.C*~_  
><strong>


	18. Double Date Ditchers

**Hello, people! I am back with a brand new chap! I should be doing homework right about now, but... :) Five more days of hell and then I'm FREE! Hahaaaaaa! Wow. I feel like Genie from the movie Aladdin at the end when he's set free... O.O **

**ANYWAY!  
><strong>

**Here's chapter Eighteen! I hope you all enjoy it! The chapter is 1,688 words and towards the bottom you get a glimpse at Jaycee's troubling family life. Trust me, questions are raised.  
><strong>

**I just turned around from the computer screen and I saw my little brother with his back to me. The disturbing part? I'm pretty sure he's naked.**

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><p>Chapter 18-Double Date Ditchers<p>

"Just get in the dress!" Lana screeched at me through the door.

"No way! I'm _not _wearing a dress!" I yelled back, defiant.

Here, I'll catch you up to speed. After quietly sneaking my way back into my room, being pounced by Meg and Katie, chased down by a psychotic Lana, I had managed to lock myself in the bathroom with Lana banging on the door trying to get me in 'the perfect dress'. As far as I could tell, it was fancy and hot pink, and came straight out of Lana's closet instead of mine.

I had Meg on my side though. When she first saw it, she looked exactly how I felt.

"Open the door! " Lana demanded.

"It's not even my size!" I shouted back, looking for escapes and excuses.

There was a paused, thoughtful silence on the other side of the door. I could almost see Lana tapping her chin in thought.

"You're right. What was I thinking? And it'd look horrid on you. Pink is not your color. It's a wonder that red is…" Lana rambled, her words jumbling together as she started talking faster and faster.

"….won't have a dress! And if you don't have a dress, you can't go on the date, ruining our plans! I have to find you a dress! Katie help me look for a dress! I need to find her a dress!"

Plans? What _plans_? I'm not sure I want to know….

I could hear Meg and Katie coming over to the door, a thumping sound resonating outside.

"What was that?" I called.

"It's all right!" Meg called back. "Lana's asthma acted up! She's fine, she just needs her inhaler!"

A retreating of footsteps followed her voice as I sighed in relief and finally opened the door. I saw Katie propping Lana up against the wall.

"She'll be fine….I think. I'm not a healer, so I really can't help here," Katie said, sounding apologetic.

"It's not your fault that she has asthma. It's her fault for getting overly-worried," I joked.

"Not the time for jokes." She scolded. Whoa, buzz-kill over here. How'd she and Travis fall for each other, anyway? She's a total no-nonsense person and he's all about it. Weird.

"Sorry, sorry," I held my hands up in surrender. "So…how'd you and Travis get together?"

Katie blushed a strawberry scarlet. "Oh…uh…he just annoyed me a lot, and I annoyed him, you know?"

I wanted to say _'No, I don't know.' _but decided against it.

"Ah. I was just wondering because, you know, he's all jokes and then you're really serious and stuff."

I felt really awkward talking with Katie, not only because I didn't have a clue what to say, but also because she felt like my complete opposite. Sure, she was cool I guess, but even a small joke irritated her.

So, naturally, I was glad when Meg came back with Lana's inhaler. After a few puffs of the thing, Lana was talking again, but still felt really dizzy.

"You know, that pink dress was terrible," Meg announced.

"Thank you!" I nodded my consent.

"But, I think I have a better dress, and Jay and I are close to the same size."

Ahh, best friends. What would I do without Meg Andrews?

Katie seemed happy about the dress change, and Lana managed a weary smile.

"Is it the one I'm thinking you're thinking of?" Lana asked slowly.

"The one we bought-"

"When Jaycee was-"

"And it's in the back of-"

"Go get!" Lana nodded as fast as she could.

Katie and I just exchanged a confused look.

"What?" We asked at the same time.

* * *

><p>"You guys look gorgeous!" Lana gushed as Meg nodded her head in satisfactory.<p>

I turned again to look at myself in the full-body mirror in Lana's room.

I was wearing an about knee-length strapless gold dress that was sequined at the top and from the waist to about my knees was the silky fabric that flowed like liquid sunlight in the early morning. Lana clapped with delight as Katie handed me a silver clutch hand bag, and Meg laid out silver flats.

Katie was dressed in a grape purple dress with a black trim, along with black flats and a black purse slung over her shoulder. Lana had also done a fish-tail braid down her back to her hair, putting a little dark eye shadow on her to bring out Katie's eyes.

Meg had also braided my hair over my right shoulder in a French braid. She always called those braids the 'Katniss Braids' because she always imagined Katniss with a braid like it.

I slipped the flats on and clutched the clutch hand bag in my right hand. I tried hard not to think about the last time I had to wear a dress. I couldn't afford to break down like a little girl now. I closed my eyes tight as I opened the door and headed for the door to the outside world.

"Let's just get this over with," I sighed and took a shaky breath.

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><p>"Whoa, Katie, you look…" Travis stuttered when he saw Katie and I exit the elevator. I had my arms crossed across my chest, feeling very uncomfortable and self-conscious. Katie smiled, grabbed Travis's hand and said, "I know."<p>

I raised an eyebrow. Seriously? The first time I saw the two, she was screaming his head off for pranking her cabin. I never would've guessed that they'd end up together. I rolled my eyes slightly, feeling like gagging at the sight.

Conner's eyes were wide as he looked for something to say.

"Need to say something, or you got to go to the bathroom?" I asked an eyebrow raised as his mouth moved up and down like a fish.

Travis had already looped his arm with Katie's and they were heading out the door when Travis turned back to look at Conner to see him standing there gawking.

"Dude, come on! We got to _go_!" Travis called over laughing slightly, as I heard Katie giggle.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed his arm. "C'mon, man up and say something! I prefer not to be stared at."

"Uh-huh," He said intelligently.

"Glad you can at least form two syllables."

"Uh-huh."

"Gods, this is going to be a long evening," I said as I let go of his arm.

I walked out the door, Conner stumbling behind me. Somehow, the two _mysteriously_ were able to afford renting a limousine. We all know that's the profit of pick-pocketing.

I slid into the seat across from Kati and Travis as Conner came in behind me. As he shut the door, I started feeling claustrophobic, and Conner seemed closer then he really was. My breathing got heavy, and I started feeling light-headed like I used to when….no. Those stopped! They aren't supposed to happen anymore! I shook the thought from my mind and leaned back into the seat.

From where I was sitting, Conner and I had the perfect view of Travis and Katie talking, giggling, occasionally kissing the other, and other romantic junk. And as all this was going on, I wasn't feeling any better.

Now, you all are confused, aren't you? About what I meant earlier? I would be too, if I were in your shoes. Well, how to explain…? Oh, I know.

I see the future.

No, not like the Oracle of Delphi. I see little bits and pieces, and usually forget them until they happen and I get a massive head ache. My mom passed it off as constant allergies acting up, and when I was six years old and told her I already knew she was having a baby boy before she went to see the doctor to find out, she nearly flipped.

But my case is much more serious then the Oracle's. I learn stuff that'll happen and I can change it. I know the outcome, and when it happens in real life, I can change it. You can't change what the Oracle sees, but you can change what I see.

And my 'problem' caused a lot of trouble between me and my parents. We definitely weren't the perfect happy family my mom had been hoping for. She had 'adopted' my 'older sister' when my sister's parents (My dad's sister-in-law and his brother) died. But that was when I was two, and she'd adjusted to our way of life and didn't even call Mom 'Aunt' anymore.

And, of course, there was my devil of a (little) brother. He was born when I was six and got so much attention. My mom started to ignore and neglect me. Acted as though I didn't exist. Stephanie-my older sister-was sixteen and didn't mind, Drew was fourteen and couldn't care less but he felt bad for me all the same. He went through the same thing when I was born, too.

So, technically, I was raised by my older brother, and when Jace-the _Diablo_ as I nicknamed him-turned five, my mom tried to take over my life again. But I wouldn't let her in, or anyone else for that matter. Drew was my comfort and reliability. My 'Dad' always listened, but he didn't know what to do or say.

So, yeah. My family is messed up. End of that miserable story. It's definitely not something you can just say 'Sorry' and put a band-aid over. And with the feeling I had, it just brought back more bad memories.

"Jaycee!" Someone waved their hand in front of my eyes. I blinked and snapped my head to my left to see Conner with his hand raised.

"You coming or not?" He asked uncertainly.

"You don't want to be here, either, do you?"

"Not really. But I owe Travis."

"You know what I say?"

"What?"

"We ditch them in the middle of this date and go to the nearest McDonald's or something instead. I've got a party to visit tonight anyway."

"Are you serious? You want to ditch this wonderfully fancy date for something nice and junky like McDonald's?" Conner snorted.

"Anything is better than dressy and stuck-up."

"Got that right!"

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><p><strong>So, how'd you like it? <strong>

**_~*J.C*~_  
><strong>


	19. Diet Water

**Hello! Okay, so I wasn't planning on updating today, or tomorrow in fact, but I got this chapter done, so I was like 'What the hell? They deserve another chapter for being awesome fans and reviewers!' So there you have it, straight from the author's head.**

**And, Meg, you'll just love what I've put in here just for you! (Inside joke!)  
><strong>

**Enjoy, amigos!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 19-Diet Water<p>

A French waiter showed us to our table. His accent was very extremely thick; I had a hard time keeping up with what he was saying. He walked at a brisk pace making me feel like I'd have to run just to make it to our table when he does.

"Madams and _Monsieur_, welcome to _Fleur de Mur de Paris*_. Take a seat and we shall be with you in a moment."

Our French friend waited impatiently for us to take our seats and even yelled at Conner for not pulling my chair out before he had sat down. Then he yelled at Travis for not sitting up straight and having proper dining etiquette. To me and Katie this was all very funny.

At least it was, until he started yelling at us for laughing.

Some of the even fancier people in the restaurant looked at us oddly. I swore I heard some old lady holding Opera glasses say to her husband or whoever the poor fellow next to her was 'I say, that's just _ghastly _behavior! And in _public, too_!'

I wonder how she'll react when Travis and Katie start kissing.

Our waiter huffed indigently and stalked back to the door to greet another group of people who had come through.

"Well, he's…." Conner trailed off.

"Pleasant," I continued.

Travis and Katie nodded.

"_Anyway_, let's look at the menu!" Travis said, eagerly trying to change the subject.

"Travis, how are you guys paying for all of this? I mean, look at how expensive everything is!" Katie exclaimed, wide-eyed and mouth gaping.

The other three of us looked at her oddly. It was obvious how these two got the money for this place.

Katie looked up at us and saw us all giving her the same look.

"No…tell me you didn't-Travis Stoll! You did _not_-!"

Travis cut Katie off with a quick kiss. She was still steaming, but at least now she was red with embarrassment rather than anger.

I stifled my laughter and looked at the menu. Sadly, it was all in really fancy script-and even though I wasn't dyslexic-I had to strain to read it. Eventually, I had to decide what I was having by the pictures. And none of it looked to appetizing.

I sighed, as I decided I'd just get a glass of water and a small plate of spaghetti since I'd be going over to Leanne's afterward. (Hopefully there'd be some pizza left.)

Closing the menu and setting it back down on the table, I proceeded to look around the restaurant, feeling as awkward as ever. My hand kept itching towards the handbag Katie had me bring. I had secretly stashed my iPod into it for emergencies.

If there were any time for Linkin Park, now would be the time.

Just thinking about music got my fingers moving rapidly on the mahogany wood table.

_And don't resent me_

_And when you're feeling empty_

_Keep me in your memory_

_Leave out all the rest, leave out all the rest_

The lyrics kept swirling in my head like a tornado. Different lyrics to different songs of different genera's. All blending together.

_I want to be a Billionaire, so f*ckin' bad-_

_Can we pretend that Airplanes in the night sky like shooting stars?-_

_In the End it doesn't even matter-_

_What I've Done-_

_Bleed it Out digging deeper just to throw it away-_

_I'm supposed to be the soldier, who never blows his composure-_

_Who died and made you King of Anything?-_

_Raise your Glass if you are wrong, in all the right ways-_

My vision started to blur, the songs in my head faster and faster, until a petite blonde woman approached and held a pad of paper in her hands and looked right threw me.

"Are you okay, Miss?" She asked, looking concerned, but she couldn't care less, obviously. It was in her job description to be nice to customers.

I rubbed my temples, slowing the music in my mind considerably.

"Yeah, could I get a glass of diet water, please?" I strained not to say the words in rhythm of a Pink song.

"Miss, there is no such thing as diet water," She said politely. "How about just a plain glass of water?"

"Sorry. Just get me diet water."

"Ma'am, we don't serve diet water. In fact, I don't think there's such a thing as diet water." She replied irritated. Conner smiled.

"You heard her! Now go get her some diet water! She obviously has a headache, and only diet water works!" Conner said, playing along on my continuous joke I played whenever I went out to eat. Order diet water: they'll all think you're crazy. They're only crazier if they give it to you.

Travis smirked, "And I'd like some sparkling water, while you're at it."

Katie just rolled her eyes at our odd joke.

The woman looked frustrated and annoyed. "I've already told you-"

"Jacqueline! Are you arguing with the customers?" A big man with a bushy moustache and tuft of brown hair said as he waddled over to our table.

"Well, no, not really, Mr. Limes, sir. They ordered something that doesn't exist!"

"Pish posh! You're always coming up with excuses! Now go get them what they've ordered!"

"Yes, sir," She sighed as she slumped off towards the kitchen to argue with some more people over 'diet water'.

"I'm terribly sorry," The large man-Mr. Limes-said, turning towards us, trying to bring his hands to at least touch across his giant belly. "Jacqueline is always coming up with excuses to get the customer in trouble. How about you only pay half the price your dinner would've originally cost you, eh?"

Travis feigned thinking. "Well, she was rather rude to my brother's date here. So, it's her call, Jaycee?"

He looked over and winked, signaling to take it.

I sniffled, acting like I'd been crying. "All we wanted was to go out on a double date at a nice, friendly restaurant." I rubbed at my eyes, pretending to wipe away a tear. Conner took up acting and placed an arm around me, 'consoling' me.

"Hush, it's all right, she's gone now," He whispered, trying hard not to laugh.

I nodded. "All right. I'm sure half-priced dinner will make up for it."

Mr. Limes had placed a beefy hand over his heart. "Oh, you poor dear! Of course, half-priced dinner for you all. It'd be my pleasure to get you a new waitress in the process as well."

"Thank you, Mr. Limes, but you real-" Katie was cut off by Travis placing his hand over her mouth.

"Excuse my girlfriend, she's a very generous person. Doesn't like to accept things like gifts." Travis smiled as Mr. Limes nodded and walked off, mumbling about his wife.

As soon as he was out of ear-shot, me and the Stoll's started laughing.

"Great acting, Jay! Ever considered the acting business?" Travis questioned.

"Nope, Though I am wonder-" I was cut off by my phone playing _Session _by (you guessed it!) Linkin Park. It was just an instrumental song, but it worked.

I grabbed my bag, quickly opening it and searching for my phone. Sometimes I swear these little hand bags were like Hermione's bead purse-bottomless.

I held the phone to my ear.

"Hello?"

_"Jaycee!" Percy's voice echoed through the cellular device._

"Did you call just to yell at me, Perce?" I smiled.

_"No! Yes! Maybe!" He stammered. "Anyway, Mom wants to know where you are."_

"Aunt Sally wants to know, or you want to know?"

_"Mom," He replied instantly._

"C'mon, Percy. You know I'm not stupid. You so want to know."

_"So does your brother," Drew's voice came through instead of Percy's. "Now, Jaycee Dawn, where the hell are you?"_

Oh shit.

* * *

><p><em><strong>*Translation: Paris Wall Flower.<strong>_

**I made it up completely, so if there is a restaurant out there called that...then, wow. Just...wow. **

**M'kay, now that that's out of the way.  
><strong>

**Diet Water. LOL. :) Meg, you are so funny! (It was her joke!)  
><strong>

**Hope she doesn't mind that I used it...  
><strong>

**BUT!  
><strong>

**Chapter Dare: I dare you to...order diet water next time you go out to eat. Doesn't matter where or when or who you're with if you're with anyone. Just do it! Then tell me your results!  
><strong>

**Feel free to dare me back (Not saying I'll do it, but if I do, then you'll be the first to know!)  
><strong>

**_~*J.C*~_  
><strong>


	20. The Runaway

**Heeeeeelllllllllloooooooooooo! Thought that you guys would enjoy a new chapter! Not much to say, so read and enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 20-The Runaway<p>

Being under house-arrest sucks.

Especially, when your warden is Andrew David Carter, one of the most over-protective older brothers in the world.

Travis and Conner knew something was wrong as soon as my eyes widened and I dropped my phone. Katie knew something was wrong after she had told Drew where we were and he came storming through the door demanding where we were.

The old lady with the opera glasses screamed, "Oh my!" as she fainted into the arms of the guy sitting next to her when Drew came stomping over eyes glowing with rage.

I didn't even know why he was angry. Bad day? Gwen break up with him or something?

Whatever the reason, I was the lucky person for him to take it out on!

Being dragged out the door and shoved into the passenger seat of a truck, I had the perfect view of an enraged Drew yelling a concerned Conner's head off. I could tell even from here that Conner wanted to melt into the sidewalk.

So, here I am getting lectured by Drew (obviously, I'm ignoring every word he's saying) when I need to interrupt him.

"Drew, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Drew looked me in the eye. His first emotion was anger, then sadness, and finally…betrayal.

Drew sat down across from me, putting his head in one hand.

"One of Gwen's friends caught her…cheating on me. Sent me a picture of them in mid-make out. We got in a fight, eventually leading to a break-up. And if that's not bad enough, Mom and Dad are coming to visit…with Jace and Stephanie of course."

My own anger flared at the name of Jace. My _Diablo_ brother coming to NYC. Great.

"Oh, and when I come to find you and tell you, Percy tells me that you're gone. On a date. With a _Stoll Brother_. Then of course Nico shows up to grab some cookies, and asks 'How's Jaycee and Conner's date going? They dating yet?'." Accusation and anger were dripping in his words.

Not only had his one reliable source to keep secrets leave out on a date and not tell him, the girl he thought he loved cheated on him. To say the least, I felt terrible. I should've at least told Drew I was going out on a date.

"Drew-"

"No, Jay. Don't. I'm fine."

He definitely did not sound fine.

"Dre-"

"I said I'm fine!"

"Andrew David Carter! You listen to me! I'm your little sister, and I know that you are most certainly _not fine!_"

Drew looked at me with sad eyes. The dark brown from our mother and hints of gold. To him, the world was bleak and grey, not the happy, cheerful, and sunny world we were used to.

"Jay-"

"No! Listen, Drew, I'm sorry for not telling you about this date, but I was pretty much forced into it. I'm sorry I wasn't here when you came, but I'm here now. And I thought we promised not to lie to each other, eh?"

Drew smiled slightly. "Yeah, I guess we did. But we really need to clean up in here. Mom'll freak when she sees this mess. And she'll be here in about…."

There was a knock on the door.

"Now."

I looked at Drew. "Am I still under house-arrest?"

"Yep."

"Then you're cleaning."

"Why?"

"Cause I'm under house-arrest."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Nothing, I just don't want to clean."

"Whatever. And you'll be under house-arrest for the next month then!"

I scoffed. "Yeah, sure I will!"

He rolled his eyes and quickly tried to clean. I smirked as I got up and headed for the door. I opened it a little, just to see who it was.

Sure enough, there stood a 5' 6 ½" woman with curly red hair and brown eyes that resembled mud. I forced a smile on my face, masking that I wasn't happy to see my control freak mother.

I opened the door the rest of the way, my mother seemed to be screaming behind her, barking at my dad to get here faster. When she saw me, her face broke into a fake smile.

"Jaycee! Oh, my baby, it's so good to see you!" She said in a voice as though she were talking to a toddler.

I let her hug me, knowing if I didn't she'd ask what was wrong. She never understood the fact that I don't like to be touched.

"Hi Mom," I managed through her bone crushing hug.

She let go of me, looked me in the eye and smiled, then brushed past me like I didn't exist. And she wonders why I don't want her back in my life.

Dad came trudging over to the door, carrying about three purses and two duffel bags. Apparently, rocks must've been packed because he was dragging them all the way down the hall, panting like a dog.

"Need any help?"

"No, no, I'm fi-yeah, help would be wonderful."

I smiled slightly as I walked over to him and took two purses and a duffel bag. I slung the duffel easily over my shoulder.

"Dad, these are extremely light to me. Either I'm incredibly strong, or you're just weak."

I heard the sounds of a video game coming from the duffel Dad was dragging.

"Oh yeah! High score!" Came a muffled, high-pitched voice.

"What'd you do? Trap Justin Bieber?" I joked.

"You wish," Dad smiled at me then unzipped the bag. "Jace Carter, what are you doing in that bag?"

"Well, it wasn't like I was going to actually _carry_ any of this stuff," He said in a _duh _voice. "So, I decided to chill in the bag where it was nice and cozy!"

"Jace, get out of the bag!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going!" My seven year old brother climbed out of the bag, still focused on his game, and stumbled into the apartment.

I followed him in with a sigh, knowing my mom would want to be staying for a while. If I'm lucky, I'll get her out by the end of the day.

I set down the purses and duffel bag on the couch and grabbed my phone.

"I got to make a call! Stay out of my room!" I yelled at them, as I headed for my bedroom door. I could hear Jace complaining loudly about his game battery as I shut the door behind me. I was about to dial Leanne's number, when I got a call.

"Hello?" I answered.

_"Hey," Came the voice of the son of Iris I'd met early this afternoon._

"Noah?"

_"Surprised?"_

"Yeah, I am. How'd you get my number?"

_"Straight to the point, aren't you? Anyway, the reason I called is because your family is in danger right now."_

"Yes, because hanging in an apartment belonging to three demigods isn't dangerous at all!" I said sarcastically. There was a banging on the door.

"Jaycee! Who are you talking to?" My mother called through the door. I covered the receiver.

"I'm on the phone, Mom! Having a _private _conversation! Not for mortal ears!"

I could hear my mom's exasperated huff. She'd never accepted the Greek gods. She continued to believe that the man she had two kids with was a musician whose stage name was Apollo and that they'd met in her parents joke shop.

_"Who was that?"_

"My mom. Nobody special."

"I heard that!" My mother called.

"You were supposed to!"

_"Do you guys have….issues?"_

"To say the least," I sighed. "Any other reason you called? And how in Hades did you get my number?"

_"Not the problem! The problem is-"_

He was cut off by the sound of a loud roar and the low, long beep signaling that the line had been cut, disconnected, or he ran out of time at a payphone.

I looked at my phone, confused. I hadn't ticked off any gods recently, had I? I certainly hadn't _met _any gods recently…had I? I shook my head trying to think straight. Failing, I decided I'd call Leanne now. After dialing the number, I put the phone to my ear.

_"Yello?" _

"Hey, Leanne. It's Jaycee."

_"Oh, hey, Jay!"_

"Yeah, hey, I'm-"

_"Jaycee, what happened at the restaurant? You guys were having such a good time until you got a phone call!"_

"How'd you know I got a phone call?" I demanded.

_"Oh, well…" She trailed off._

"You were spying on me! Weren't you?"

_"Well…"_

"Weren't you?"

_"Uhh…"_

"Answer me!"

_"Yeah…kinda…"_

That was all I needed to hear.

"Well then…I called to tell you that I wasn't going to make your party, but I guess I did make it in a way."

_"Jaycee-"_

I hung up the phone, angry that my friends would do that. Annoyed that Meg hadn't stopped them, knowing I wouldn't want-nor liked-to be spied on. Furious, knowing that it was probably Lana's idea.

I threw my phone on my bed, grabbed my bow and arrows, and opened the window. I almost jumped out right away.

Almost.

But the thought of leaving Drew without anyway of contacting me was unbearable. So, I went back over to my bed, grabbed my cell, turned it off, and shoved it back into my pocket. I silently went over and unlocked my door, then ran for the window.

I jumped out quickly, landing on the fire escape, looking off towards the evening sun that was slowly dipping into the horizon. I took a deep breath, then jumped from the fire escape and plummeted down towards the streets.

The worst I got was a twisted ankle, but as soon as I hit the ground, I dashed off for nowhere.

I had run away.

Again.

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><p><strong>Again? Jaycee's already runaway once? Obviously not in this story, but yes, she has runaway once. Sadly, she didn't get too far when Drew had found her and dragged her back 'home'.<strong>

**But what's going to happen to her family if she's not there to protect them, knowing full well that Drew will be the one to follow and bring her back? (If he even finds her that is.)  
><strong>

**Just have to wait and find out! :)  
><strong>

**There's a poll on my profile for a new story(s)! If you want to have a say in it! (Check my MoA fanifc-Chap. 40-to see more details!)  
><strong>

**_~*J.C*~_  
><strong>


	21. Visions and Random Kids

**Oh wow! I haven't updated in...forever! Sorry bout that!**

**I'm informing you now. I had a little reward for the 100th reviewer on one of my other stories, so two of her OC's are appearing in the stories she chose for them! I'm honored to say that she chose this one and A 'Goode' Surprise! Except in this one, there's a twist to her characters.**

**Enjoy this very late update!**

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><p>Chapter 21-Visions and Random Kids<p>

I dashed through the city streets silently. No gang that popped out from the allies startled me. They never saw me. I just had to get away from it all. From the mortal and demigod worlds.

I sprinted through New York until the landscape started to remind me of Camp Half-Blood. I'd been running in the Camp's direction. I cursed to myself.

It was the last place I wanted to go at the moment. Other than back to the apartment.

I sighed, immensely tired from all the running and sprinting. I decided it was safe to turn my phone on as long as I didn't call or text anyone for a while, but as soon as I turned it on, I found I had three missed calls from Drew already.

I had ten text messages from Lana and another ten from Meg.

I deleted them all without hesitation.

I shoved my phone back into my pocket, and started sprinting again. I had just passed the big pine tree-Thalia's Tree-on Half-Blood Hill, and was just kept going. I'd stay outside Camp borders, close enough to cross into Camp if I needed to, but far enough away that they wouldn't know I was out there. I'd be in the extension of the Woods.

I knew they didn't keep monsters in the woods outside the Camp's borders and that's where I'd stay. Drew would look in places I might've gone, thinking I'd just be pissed at my parents and little brother. He'd never expect I was also irked at my demigod friends.

I'm sure he'd get Connor onto the little search, have him keep an eye out for me at Camp-another reason I had to stay out.

He'd get my mortal friends in it too-which just told me I'd have to ditch school (which is okay by me).

I just had to focus on staying ahead and unseen.

I made it into the woods, new leaves hitting my face as winter was now ending and we were entering an early spring. Winter had not felt exactly like winter this year, it was too warm with less snow than usual. Low branches snapped at my feet, creating nice small cuts and scratches.

I was far in the woods, now unknowing of how to get out even if I wanted to. I leaned against a large tree's trunk, and sunk to the ground.

I pulled my knees to my chest and glared at the ground in front of me.

_Friends_, I thought bitterly. _They _always _let you down in the end. _

_Or stab you in the back. _I added as I sighed, irritated.

From now on, no trust. Not from me. I won't be able too.

When I had come to trust Lana and Meg, I had promised myself the first day I became friends with them that this was the last time. As soon as they let me down, I was done with friends.

For awhile, it didn't seem like they would let me down. But they did.

I felt hollow on the inside. I felt numb. I couldn't feel any heat coming off of my pale skin.

I couldn't feel anything at all at the moment.

I looked up, leaning my head against the tree, as a howl emanated through the trees. I decided that I should get to higher ground and not become doggy treats.

Slowly standing myself up, I examined the tree. There was a low branch just low enough for me to grab onto, with another branch just a little higher and off to the side. I judged the tree and grabbed onto the branch.

The bark was rough, even against my numb and cold hands, and was glad I had changed after Drew had dragged me home. This would've been much harder with those flats.

My DC shoes gave me the perfect traction for the tree climbing. I gripped the tree branch as I pulled my body over and on top of it. Some of the bark on the branch must've been coming off, because it ripped a hole in my jeans at the knees.

I looked at my hands to find some cuts and a little bleeding. On instinct, I muttered something in Ancient Greek under my breath.

Immediately, the wounds stopped bleeding the little blood there was, and the cuts become small scratches.

I took deep breath and looked to the next branch, carefully standing up on the branch I was currently sitting on, and grabbing hold of the next branch, continuing the process until I was far enough up the tree, you wouldn't find me if you looked.

I sighed and let my left leg dangle over the side of the branch as I leaned against the tree, staring at the full moon in front of me. The yellow-ish white light reflected on my face as I stared at the moon. I blinked, trying to rid myself of the increasing tiredness from climbing the tall tree.

The moon continued to rise higher into the night sky, my eyes following it as the sleepiness took over and my head slumped onto my shoulder.

* * *

><p><em>I was standing, almost like a ghost reflecting on something. I stood off to the side, watching as a boy I recognized as Percy screamed as he raised his sword.<em>

_I didn't recognize the boy next to him, but he also raised his sword-one of the likes I've never seen-and charged screaming a battle cry._

_That's when I noticed the battle and carnage of chaos around me._

_I saw myself with the Stolls and Katie fighting off earthen mud men. I saw Annabeth and Thalia in combat with some dracanae. I saw many people I recognized from Camp half-Blood, but twice that many I didn't know, telling me that I was seeing the future._

_My hands flew to the sides of my head. A strong head ache was coming on, and suddenly the visions changed and I was standing upright as if someone tapped a broom to my back._

_As things settled, I was standing in a house or an apartment, an older Percy and Annabeth sitting on the couch in front of me. On the rug in front of them sat a little girl of no more than two years with shiny black hair already nearly touching her shoulders._

_A ring at the doorbell of the apartment caused Percy to get up off the couch kissing Annabeth on the side of the head as he got off the couch._

_Percy opened the door to reveal the blonde boy from the last vision along with a girl with choppy brown hair and changing eyes holding a boy of the same age on her hip._

_"Jason!" Percy's voice sounded echo-y as he said the name with joy and the scene started to fade._

_Suddenly, I was now standing in front of a man, maybe in his early twenties, with long-ish blonde hair and summer sky blue eyes. A wide smile was plastered on his face as he engulfed me in a hug._

_I knew that the stranger hugging me was Apollo. My dad._

_"Why me?" I asked him. Apollo pulled back confused._

_"What do you mean, girlie?" _

_"Why do I see things-visions?"_

_"Oh. That. It's a gift that few of my children are born with. It's rare. I'm the god of prophecy as you know, and sometimes one or two of my children are born with the sight of the future. Even rarer is it ever a girl."_

_I crossed my arms and sighed. "Guess I'm just special."_

_"You are," Apollo nodded. "And I'm wishing you good luck right now."_

_"Why?" I asked slowly and cautiously, knowing this somehow has to do with my last visions…_

_Apollo slowly disappeared, refusing to answer me, and slowly, I felt the heat of the sun on my face, knowing I was waking up._

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><p>I woke up to the sun rising on my right, blinding me as I opened my eyelids. The orange, red, and yellow light of the sun was wafting over the land as I blinked the drowsiness away and stretched slightly.<p>

I looked over through the canopy of trees. Even from here, I could see the big blue farmhouse from Camp.

A snap was heard from bellow me. I dared a glance down, expecting my older brother, but instead saw two people moving semi-silently through the brush.

"-quiet, Tristan! You know what Lord Apollo said, we only have one shot at this. We can't make contact with anyone of the past. We can go see our parents, see what they were like, but we can't let them see us. Got it?" The girl whisper-yelled at the boy-Tristan-standing next to her.

Tristan stopped the girl from moving, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Faith, calm down. We've been over this ten times already!"

I sat in the tree watching as a small argument ensued. After curiously watching, I grabbed my bow, notched two arrows, and silently jumped down from the tall tree, landing right behind the two.

I pulled the string back, not far enough that if I let go they'd actually fly, but far enough that it looked like I'd shoot them.

"Who are you! Why are you in my woods!" I demanded. "You're not looking for me are you?"

I questioned only for effect, but I wanted to make sure they hadn't come in contact with Drew first.

The girl-Faith-yelped and turned towards me, drawing a knife. Tristan drew a sword and leveled it, keeping it steady, though you could tell he was extremely frightened by my sudden appearance. Faith gulped. She was shaking either from cold or fear.

Her shiny black hair whipped around her as the winds started to pick up.

"My name," Her voice sounded familiar to me, but I don't know why, "is Faith….Jackson."

I raised an eyebrow. Why was she being so hesitant. Jackson was a common last name….wasn't it?

I cocked my head to Tristan standing next to her.

"Tristan Grace," he said with pride. He was someone I couldn't place…but I felt like I should know him. What did these two have to do with my dream? Why hadn't I forgotten it?

I kept the arrows notched, and my fingers tight on the bow string, but I lowered my bow. The two lowered their weapons as well.

"Who are you?" Faith asked, recovering her wits. I'm sure I didn't look pleasant in my tattered DC shoes, ripped skinny jeans, and black t-shirt-the only one I was allowed to own according to Lana.

I felt something around my neck I hadn't felt before. I looked down a little to see a necklace with a colorful owl with obsidian jeweled eyes. I then noticed my bow had disappeared, along with my quiver that had been strapped to my side.

"What the-" I started to say, but then I felt a vibration coming from my pocket followed by the song _Funhouse _by P!nk (Pink).

I took my phone out of my pocket slowly, as the phone continued the song.

"_This used to be a funhouse_

_But now it's full of evil clowns." _

That's when I saw Drew's photo on my screen. I took a deep breath and hit ignore. I nearly regretted the decision, but decided I wouldn't attract the monsters from the Camp's fully stocked woods by turning Drew's one call down.

"I repeat; _Who are you_?" Faith said. She was obviously getting frustrated with not knowing. I looked her in the eye just as they turned from sea-green to a stormy gray.

I took another deep breath, letting it out through my nose. For the first time in a long time, I stuck my hand out to someone, allowing them to shake my hand.

"Jaycee Carter," I studied them cautiously before deciding. They obviously knew about the gods from their argument when I woke up, "daughter of Apollo."

Faith's eyes widened ever so slightly. She opened her mouth to say something, but then quickly shut it.

"I'm guessing you know me. From a different time period."

Faith only nodded.

"Guess that's what Dad meant by 'Good luck'."

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><p><strong>So, how was it guys? I didn't plan on updating any stories today (took a break) but I realized I needed to update this one. Badly.<br>**

**All reviews are appreciated, and since I did this on another one...  
><strong>

**100th reviewer gets a cookie and an OC to appear in any of my stories! Love you all!  
><strong>

**_~*J.C*~_  
><strong>


	22. The Cafe

**Hello! Hello! I have Writer's Block so this and the next chapter (I think) will be kind of sucky though this whole story isn't of my best work either. Anyway, enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 22<p>

We sat down in a booth at a local café. I kept my hood up, and kept glancing over my shoulder for any signs of my brother or 'friends'. I looked Faith and Tristan in the eyes.

"Tell me exactly what happened," I kept my voice quiet enough so no one could overhear, but loud enough for us to hear each other.

Faith took a deep breath. "Well, we'd been told great stories about our parents-"

"You're lying," I said instantly. She wouldn't look me in the eye. Faith growled in frustration.

"I hate it when you do that," She mumbled, then picked up her story. "Okay, here's the real thing. There's apparently an up-coming war, and it left my mom in a terrible mental state. She had gotten better before me and my older brother and sister showed up, but for the longest time if my dad left her, she was hysterical."

"How do you know this if you weren't around yet?" I questioned suspiciously.

"You know how I said she got better? She's gotten worse as we grew older. Attachment and love for us drove her back into the mental block. We came back to hopefully leave behind something to get rid of it, without coming into actual contact with her or her knowing who we really are if we do."

"You realize that for this particular mission, you require getting in contact with her?" I asked rolling my eyes at the fifteen year old in front of me.

"That's what I've been trying to tell her!" Tristan said, using his hands to throw emphasis.

She smacked his shoulder. "I was trying to think of a plan with a way that we didn't have to!"

I shook my head as I glanced over my shoulder again. I saw the door open and a flash of blonde before I turned back around and tried to blend with the booth.

Faith looked at me curiously. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I answered slowly, pulling my hood over my face. I silently added, "For now."

"What's wrong?" Tristan asked, suddenly on alert.

"Nothing," I answered quickly. "It's just right now….Jaycee Carter has run away from the world. Demigod and mortal."

They both looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Are you serious?" Faith demanded. "You never told us!"

I looked at them, "What? It's not like I'm the most famous person out there. Who cares if one girl out of a billion people ran away."

Tristan shook his head. "Not in our time. You're pretty well-known. Author, you know. You sing a little too, while your best friend plays guitar."

Anger flashed in my eyes. "We're still friends?"

"Yeah…?" Tristan looked confused as Faith hit him upside the head.

"You're not supposed to tell her! And you've spent way too much time with Uncle Leo!" She scolded. Tristan raised his hands up in defeat.

I checked over my shoulder once more, seeing a two mops of brown enter through the door, along with some gold. I cursed, recognizing the trap before it was played.

"I got to get out of here as secretly and quietly as possible. Any ideas?"

The two shook their heads and I cursed again. This was not good. There was no back exit, and if I went out the front they'd be sure to see me and intercept. Might as well just stay put then and pretend I'm not here.

Too bad it didn't work.

"There she is!" Meg sounded relived.

"Thank the gods," Lana sighed as they ran over, the Stolls behind them.

When they reached us, Meg pulled me up out of my seat and into a hug. I scowled as she did so.

"We were so worried about you," Meg whispered in my ear. She pulled away and wiped at her eyes quickly, and I realized that she'd been crying. I gave her a confused look.

"Why're you crying?" I asked. Connor's jaw dropped.

"Why is she crying? Dude! You freaking ran away and wouldn't come in contact with them! You didn't even run away to Camp! And-who're they?" Connor stopped his rant to point at the two people in the booth across from me.

Faith looked me in the eye and silently pleaded me not to tell them the truth.

"These are my…friends, I guess," I answered slowly. "This is Faith and her boyfriend Tristan."

Travis leaned over and whispered, "Demigods?"

I nodded.

Lana shook her head. "Do we really care right now? We've got Jaycee back!"

I frowned. I didn't want to be 'back' as Lana had put it. What's the point in being 'back' and not feeling comfortable anymore?

Lana's phone beeped and she pulled it out of her pocket, looking at the screen quickly then staring at me with horror filled eyes.

"The apartment's been ransacked….and your parents are missing."

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><p><strong>Oooooo. Who took the Carter's? You'll be surprised, but leave a guess and I'll update again later today!<br>**

**_~*J.C*~_  
><strong>


	23. The Painful Truth

**Hello! Thank you for your wonderful reviews! (toe walker and DarkLove12489) Only people who reviewed the last chapter! Yay for you! You get a cookie! (:::) (:::) Triple Chocolate Chip!**

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><p>Chapter 23-The Painful Truth<p>

You'd think I was worried the minute I heard this. Or maybe I started crying. Or maybe I sat down in the booth, with a shocked looked on my face.

The truth?

I nearly didn't care.

What had my mother done for me that she should deserve my help? What had my mother done except either neglect or try to control my life? Had she even the slightest care for how I felt all those years?

But I thought of my dad. He had been there when I needed him-even if he wasn't really my dad; I grew up with him as my dad. He'd consoled me when Drew wasn't around to do so, and when I grew quiet, he somehow managed to make me talk.

So, I stood there. A blank look on my face. I heard myself say, "So?"

Lana looked at me horrified. "You don't care that your parents are missing?"

"Not really," I said coldly and shrugged as I started to walk towards the door. A voice stopped me though.

"That's not the Jaycee we know."

It was Faith's voice. I froze in my place. The café's little occupancy was looking at me as Faith approached and placed her hand on my shoulder, the small band of demigods back at the booth. I could only imagine how many monsters we were attracting right now.

I shrugged Faith's hand away.

"_That _Jaycee doesn't even exist yet. _That_ Jaycee will never exist if you try and help me right now. You gotta trust me on that one, Faith. I have to go through some metamorphosis and it has to deal with this. So if you try and help me right now, the one you know will cease to exist."

Even though I wasn't looking at her, I could tell she was shocked.

"I've watched and read enough time travel stuff to know."

With that, I walked out of the small café, its occupants staring after me curiously.

I kept my hood up, and my hands in my pockets. My thumb was fingering my iPod that was tucked behind my phone in my pocket.

Why would someone-_anyone_-want to kidnap _my _parents? I didn't have anything of value to give for trade.

A cold laughter rang in my ears and tingled up my spine. My eyes widened as I immediately straightened as if being zapped by lightning. I fell to my knees, clutching my stomach, as something powerful overwhelmed me. I closed my eyes as the pain grew and my grip on my sides tightened.

When I opened my eyes, I wasn't on the streets of New York City, though I knew I was still there. What I saw in front of me was my little devil of a half-brother, Jace, and my parents, all hugging each other tightly.

Jace's shirt was in ruins and his gaming device was shattered at his feet. He was complaining loudly about how it had taken him hours to get to Level 3 (Though it took me only minutes to get to Level 5, proving that he was super slow).

My mother was crying into my step-father's shoulder. I had finally decided to say that Scott Carter-who I had thought was my real dad-was my step-dad.

My step-dad was stroking my mom's short, red hair as tears spilt through her closed eyes and drenching a small portion of Scott's shirt.

An arrow whizzed past, impaling it into the wall next to my mother's head. I was surprised to see that the archer who had shot it was….Drew Carter. My wonderful big brother had kidnapped our parents? What sense did that make?

"Stop crying!" He ordered in a tone I'd only heard him use once, when he and our mother got in their biggest fight early in the morning hours.

"Drew..." Scott's voice drawled as our mother tried desperately to stop the tears.

"Shut up!" He demanded. "It's all your guys' fault! It's your fault that she ran, you know!" He pointed a finger at mom. "_You _neglected her! You acted as though she was invisible, and then when we both find out that Apollo, the Greek God Apollo, is our father, you deny it! You tried to tell me that the Greek Gods don't even exist! And you _know_ that they do!"

He then pointed to Scott. "And you never told her that you weren't her dad! She went on believing that lie for thirteen years! And you didn't even bother to try and understand her problems to help!" Then he pointed to the whimpering little boy.

"And _you, _I have no words for," My brother scowled, something that didn't suit him. I understood anger towards our mother, who had neglected us. I understood annoyance towards Jace, who was a spoiled brat. But I didn't understand anger towards our step-father, who had tried his best.

And when I thought about it, I was only angry at my 'friends' for spying on me. And when I thought about it, I wasn't exactly angry at my mother, more annoyed and wanting her attention and praise for what _I_ do, not what _she_ tries to do for me. And everyone had the right to be annoyed with someone like Jace. That needed no explanation.

But when I looked into the eyes of my brother's image-knowing this was only a vision-I saw fear. Fear that this was _his _fault. He needed someone to blame. So he blamed our mortal family. Any reasons behind kidnapping them maybe have been also for protection.

They said the place was ransacked, most likely by a monster, so he got them out safely, then anger took over.

And I got all this information just by looking into his eyes.

I closed my eyes again and when I opened them, I took a deep shaky breath. I found that I was lying on the sidewalk of the city street, Connor Stoll's face hovering above me, his brother Travis behind him a little.

"Oh, thank the gods! You're all right!" Meg cried.

"We walked out of the café following you, and then you collapsed, and you weren't breathing, and we almost had to have Connor give you mouth to mouth! But you woke up before anything like that had to happen!"

Connor's face flushed as Lana started hyperventilating after her explanation. I sat up groggily, with the Stoll Brother's help. When I got a proper look around the place, I noticed the blind son of Iris Noah standing behind Meg.

"I got here as fast as I could! I had a feeling something was going to happen. I figured out who kidnapped your parents, too! His aura was left all over the apartment. It was-" I cut Noah off.

"Drew. My brother kidnapped our parents and half-brother. Yeah, I know."

We all shared a look before Travis asked, "But, why?"

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><p><strong>This story has definitely gotten more...out there. Eh, well. My whole mind is out there! This story will have between 30 and 40 chapters most likely and then I'll be done with it, and it'll only get a sequel if I'm asked by...10 people (Anonymous or not).<strong>

**Umm...nothing else to say really.  
><strong>

**_~*J.C*~_  
><strong>


	24. The Kiss and the Plan

**Hi! Ummm...yea, I haven't been updating much on any of my stories, have I? Sorry bout that, just no inspiration to write right now. Summer has been pretty uneventful.**

**School's starting soon, though! I'll be busier, but I'll get a lot more inspiration, trust me! :) Though, I hear the Algebra teacher's a devil if your on her bad side (My older brother was! Inside info, for me, yay!).  
><strong>

**My dad is in Germany for the week, as well. Buisness trip. So it's just me, my mom, and my little brother (My older sister is married and my older brother is in college). Hooray! *Sarcasm*  
><strong>

**P.S.- I'm terrible with romantic stuff, so bear with me in this chapter, please!**

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><p>Chapter 24-The Kiss and the Plan<p>

I was tired and exhausted by the time the gang took me back to Camp Half-Blood. I was ready to collapse on my bunk in the Apollo Cabin and drift off to the sound of soft music.

But I didn't.

I was known for being a tad…nocturnal. As weird as it was with Apollo being, you know, God of the Sun and stuff. But I'd always been more alert, more awake, and more focused during the night time hours.

So I sat on my bunk, it was the one nearest the window, and looked out at the night sky that was filling with stars. I had opened the window to get the clearest view of the stars, and feel the cool night breeze on my face.

I was so transfixed with the beauty of it all, I hadn't noticed when the silhouette of a figure stood, leaning against the side of the cabin next to the window.

"Hey," the voice belonging to the figure said.

"Connor?" I asked hesitantly.

He laughed and nodded slightly.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be sleeping?" I asked him in a whisper, doing my best not to wake my siblings, who were turning in their beds, obviously affected by the noise and the breeze.

"I should, but I can't. And I just had a feeling. Come on outside, we don't want to wake anyone, trust me! Travis and I accidently woke them and they cursed us with rhyming couplets that didn't wear off for months!"

I raised an eyebrow but proceeded to climb out the window as quietly as I could, making only the slightest noise when my foot hit the leg of the bed, stubbing my toe.

I looked back at the room to see little nine-year-old Andrea Parks stirring in her bed. I quickly continued out of the window and told Connor to hurry up so we could go somewhere else to talk.

Connor grinned in the moonlight and grabbed my hand-making me blush, which was something I didn't do. Ever!-and pulled me along since I didn't know where anything was really.

Though I could vividly see in my mind Andrea scrambling to the window waking Nina, Will, and some of the other guys as she stared after us, smiling from ear to ear. She was singing softly, and not very loud, but in the quiet and still night, it could be heard around the Camp.

"Jaycee and Connor sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g…." She continued the song then made her way back to her bed singing under her breath, "Jaycee's got a boyfriend, Jaycee's got a boyfriend, Jaycee's got a boyfriend."

If possible, that small vision made me blush even harder as Connor led me down to the beach, where the moon and the stars were more beautiful and were wonderfully reflected off the water's surface.

"So why are you really up this late?" I asked him, sitting down on the soft sand in my pajamas of a tank top and sweat pants.

He sat down beside me, dressed similarly in a t-shirt and sweats.

"Wanted to see how you were holding up."

"I'm holding up fine," I grumbled, looking anywhere but him. I didn't really know him well, but I knew him well enough that I was able to tell…certain feelings I had. And I didn't like them. Not at all.

Connor sighed and looked at the water.

"You know when I said I had a feeling I shouldn't go to sleep?" He asked suddenly.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because I had a feeling you were still awake, too. But it was like there was a voice inside my head, prodding me to go to the Apollo Cabin right outside the window. I can only guess that it was Aphrodite."

I shrugged before I could register anything he said.

"And," he continued, "because of feelings like those, I know you're _not_ holding up fine."

This was probably the most serious I'd seen Connor Stoll ever. This was probably the only time I'd seen him not trying to make a joke out of life.

Then my brain decided to actually catch up on what was going on and I registered that Aphrodite was the goddess of beauty…..and love.

Oh gods, was he trying to say what I think he was trying to say? Oh gods, I hope he wasn't cause I don't know what I'd say back. Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods!

"Hello?" He waved a hand in front of my face as I continued to stare at the water. "Anyone in there? Jay, you home?"

I blinked and blushed again. "Wha-What?"

Connor's shoulders fell. "You mean, you didn't hear any of what I just said?"

"I heard up to where you said you knew I wasn't fine," I breathed in a deep breath. With the moon's light, I could see-out of the corner of my eye-the sad look on his face.

Then, on impulse and stupid ADHD, I turned my head and gave him a quick kiss to the lips before standing up and stalking back to the Apollo Cabin, wishing I had my sweat shirt so I could pull on my hood.

I had just made it to the window, checking to see if everyone was asleep-careful to notice that Andrea kept tossing and turning, half-asleep, when I heard footsteps behind me.

"Jaycee!" I heard a voice behind me that was becoming all too familiar.

I turned abruptly and made the 'Shhh!' motion with my finger. Connor didn't even bother to keep quiet as he tried to catch me before I went back into the cabin.

I was about to climb back into my cabin when I felt someone's hands grip my shoulders and turn me around sharply. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach as he crashed his lips into mine.

At first, I shocked and my eyes were wide at the movement. But slowly, they began to close, and my arms moved as if this were natural, wrapping themselves around his neck.

The soft squealing of someone close and nearby made us jump back to see Andrea standing in the window jumping.

"I knew it!" She whispered as Nina began to get up again and Will covered his head with a pillow muttering, "Can't she ever _sleep?_"

Nina stood groggily out of her bed and went with a great sigh towards the little girl.

"Andrea, what is it-" Nina stopped mid sentence when she saw me and Connor standing there awkwardly. "Oh, I see. Got a picture Andi?" Nina asked smiling innocently.

Andrea nodded and held up a digital camera. "The flash was off too!" She smiled as she handed the camera to Nina who looked at the picture.

"Good thing it's a full moon, or else you wouldn't have got a picture this good!" Nina smiled and then turned the camera to us. The picture had the stars out and the full moon high in the sky, it's light shining down on the Camp, illuminating everything in the picture. But the focus was on two people, one-the boy-with a mop of curly brown hair, and-the girl-dark brown hair that looked nearly black and-even in the moonlight-her (natural) red highlights shone.

I blushed a deep crimson shade of red.

"Please get rid of it?" I said in a whisper.

Nina shook her head and Connor smiled sheepishly.

"Nah, I think I want a copy!" He said. I rolled my eyes as I said a quick good bye and climbed back into Cabin Seven through the window.

I knew Nina wouldn't be getting rid of the photo anytime soon….not before showing the whole Camp. And if she showed the whole Camp, then news will travel to Drew-my brother, mind you. That reminds me, wonder if the Clown ever found out it was me?-who'll be out for Connor…..

_Wait._

If Drew comes for Connor, I can devise a plan around that and save my family, no matter how much I didn't really like them, and I could save Drew from himself. Maybe even find him a nice, non-cheating girl who lives nearby and he can see her on a regular basis.

And the plans swarmed my head as I fell into a (nearly) dreamless sleep, knowing I was going to be pestered and bothered by my siblings for quite a while.

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><p><strong>So...opinions? Good or bad, though the bad ones make me sad (Haven't had many on this one, though. Had one or two on my MoA story, though...). This story may be updated twice today though!<strong>

**_~*J.C*~_  
><strong>


	25. The Kidnapping

**Hello readers. If you have read my A 'Goode' Surprise story, than you know my excuse for not being on in forever. And I really don't feel like repeating it.**

**And I'm thinking about changing my pen name to Teenaged Author or something else like that...so if you see something other than pjoroxs, it's still me.  
><strong>

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 25-The Kidnapping<p>

Breakfast was….annoying to say the least.

That morning I had awoken with all the Apollo campers-minus my brother. Where was the idiot? Surely he'd come back to Camp sometimes!-crowded around my bunk staring down at me.

Andrea was on my bed, looking down at me, a big, happy smile on her face. When I opened my eyes to meet the little's girls face only inches from mine, I screamed and scrambled into the sitting position.

"Well, that's one way to wake her up," Oliver, one of my half-brothers, said as I started to take deep breaths to calm myself.

"So," Nina said, taking a seat at the other end of the bed, "what happened last night?"

Nina had a knowing smirk on her face as I blushed lightly and glared at her.

"Oh, I see!" Will announced, holding the digital camera little Andrea had last night. "You were having some…fun."

Will laughed as he showed the picture to the rest of the guys. Levi, one of the older guys, gave loose a low whistle as he stared at it.

"Geez, Jaycee, I would never have seen this coming," He said sarcastically as he laughed with Will. Oliver took one look at the picture and gave a wolf-whistle. Dean just laughed.

I made a move for the spare knife that was on the bedside table. I raised it at each of them in turn.

"I'm not afraid to gut you all like defenseless fish."

Oliver and Dean took a step back from me, hiding slightly behind Will and Levi. Nina laughed.

"I don't believe you!" She sang. I relaxed my shoulders and smiled slightly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I said as I pulled back the golden silk sheets of my bunk and got up. I walked to the trunk at the end of my bed and grabbed some baggy, boot cut jeans, and a Camp T-shirt, with the other essentials like underwear and a bra.

I headed into the bathroom and got ready for the day, trying to brush through my tangled mess of hair.

Will gathered everyone and we set off for the dining pavilion, me pulling up the rear.

When we sat down at our table we went through what was a camp normal. I got up and sacrificed some of my pancakes to the gods then went back to my seat to actually eat my breakfast.

Nina sat on one side of me and Andrea got sat on the other. She kept looking at me then bursting into a fit of giggles. Will-who was seated across from me-kept smiling, and would then try and question me about last night.

Oliver was trying not to laugh, and I was getting ready to kick Levi in the shins for asking me I enjoyed myself last night.

That's when the Hermes Cabin filed in.

I could tell that Travis was also teasing his brother, and the not-as-cramped cabin was joining in as well. Travis managed to catch my eye, and he gave a loud wolf-whistle, catching the attention of some of the nearby tables.

_Don't do what I think he's going to do. Please! Gods, please, please, please-_

"I'd like to make an announcement!" Travis yelled as he started to stand up on the top of the table. Travis then gestured for Will to come and help him with it, and Will had something flashy and silver in his….oh, gods, no!

Travis cleared his throat once more then made to direct the Hermes cabin as if they were a choir. Together, the whole Cabin Eleven was singing, "Connor's got a girlfriend! Connor's got a girlfriend!"

Will then drew the attention onto himself.

"I'd like to invite the happy couple to join me up here to relish in their embarrassment!"

Nina and Oliver then pulled me up out of my seat by the arms and started to drag me over to the table as Connor was hoisted up.

"Ah, come on!" I complained. "Isn't announcing it bad enough?"

Will laughed and shook his head. "And we caught them on camera!"

Soon, the picture was being passed around as Connor and I were forced to stay on the table until Will got the camera back.

But instead of going to finish my breakfast, I just stormed out of the dining pavilion, heading for the arena.

Upon arriving, I drew a knife out of my sock. It was something I'd found before school had started, during my two weeks at Camp in the winter. I pressed a button on the hilt and the knife extended into a sword.

I made my way to the first dummy and started to attack it. I was destroying a third dummy when I heard voices. They seemed to be coming from a distance.

"Dude! Let go of me!"

There was a sound like someone hitting something hard.

"Man, please, put me down!"

"Shut up," A second voice said. I recognized that voice. I peered over the edge of the arena to see my brother Drew pinning Connor against the wall of a nearby cabin.

"Now listen to me," Drew growled, "If I hear that you've done anything-_anything_-to hurt her, I will hunt you down, and there will be no place for you to hide. Got it?"

Connor nodded.

Drew looked at him through narrowed eyes before dropping Connor to the ground.

"Where is she?" Drew demanded.

"I don't know! She was just in the pavilion and then-" Connor never got to finish. Drew had already started for the pavilion.

"But she stormed off!" He called after my brother. "She's not there anymore!"

I waited until Drew was out of sight and out of ear shot before making my way over to Connor.

"Hey," I said gloomily. Connor jumped. "I heard what my brother was saying to you."

"Weird, isn't it?" Connor said slowly.

"What?"

"That he just shows up. No one's seen him in a while. Like, at all. Then, there was last night-" I blushed at the mere mention "- and he's back."

I sighed. "I guess….it's my fault."

I slumped down to the ground, placing my head against the wall of the cabin.

"What'd you mean?"

"I ran away from the apartment soon after my family arrived on a check-up. But my mom's not exactly...I don't know the word.

"But she's neglected me, and I'm not fond of her. Drew's always been _there, _you know? And it's always been like that since my mortal brother was born. Then I just pack up and try to leave him with parents he constantly fights with. He's blaming our family because….he's afraid it's his fault. But it's not. It's _mine._"

Connor looked ahead of us for a while. It was making me nervous, his being silent.

"I'll help," He said slowly. I looked at him, my eyes slightly misty.

"Why?"

"Because you can't do it single-handedly. I don't have much to do anyway, now that Travis and Katie started dating. And I want to help you." He put an arm around my shoulders and I allowed myself to place my head on his shoulder.

We sat there in silence like that for a few minutes. Some of the campers passed us, but left us alone. I waited for Drew to arrive again, but there was no sign of him.

I drew a deep breath then sighed. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"The help," I smiled. "I got to get to archery. Maybe Drew'll be there waiting for me."

I kissed his cheek before quickly getting up and hurrying away. Somehow, my bow appeared in my hands and my quiver strapped to my side.

When I arrived at the archery range, Drew was waiting for me. Just not the Drew I wanted to see.

The Aphrodite girl stood there, arms crossed, her perfectly applied lips pursed in irritation.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Sunshine herself," she sneered.

"You need to learn some better insults, Drew," I growled, pushing past her.

"So….you and the Joker. No wonder your brother was mad."

I stopped in my tracks.

"You saw my brother?"

"Oh yeah. He wasn't happy when he entered the pavilion earlier. Came in demanding to know where you were."

"Where is he?" I demanded.

"Why should I tell you?"

Instantly I had an arrow notched and the string pulled back, ready to fire. Drew didn't even look fazed.

"Pointing arrows won't help, hun."

My grip tightened on the bow. "Where. Is. My. Brother?"

"Which one? You have, what, five?" She smiled, feigning innocence.

I growled in frustration. "Drew. Where's my brother Drew Carter?"

"Oh, _that _brother," the Barbie doll smiled and inspected her perfectly manicured nails. "Turn around, sweetheart."

I turned, but too slowly. In the blink of an eye, my brother had put a sack over me, and I was incased in darkness.

I couldn't believe it. My own brother.

Drew had….had….had _kidnapped _me!

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><p>When the darkness was lifted from my eyes, I saw bars. And through those bars I saw my brother, Drew, and past him our family behind another set of bars.<p>

"Where are we?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

"It's nice to see you, Jay," Drew smiled as he said softly. I looked at him with a stony expression.

"Answer my questions. Where are we? Why am I here? Why did you kidnap me?" My voice grew louder with each question. Drew's smile faded replaced with a blank mask.

"We're somewhere, and you're here because I can't risk you running away again," Drew answered, looking distant.

"It's not your idea, is it? This isn't you, Drew! I know it isn't."

Drew just walked away, glaring at the cage across from me.

"Andrew David Carter! You answer me! Right now!" Drew continued walking until he reached a door. He took a glance back at me before opening the steel door and exiting the prison cell.

I looked across the room to my parents.

"I'm sorry," I breathed.

My mother looked at me with kind eyes for the first time since Jace was born.

"Oh, sweetie, it should be _me _who's sorry. Drew's kept us here since you disappeared, venting out his feelings. I never knew the way you two felt. I guess…I guess I wasn't prepared to have children who were as…_special _as the pair of you."

My eyes were watery as I crawled towards the bars. I gripped one tightly in one hand. We were in an uncomfortable silence for nearly an hour before something came to mind.

"I've got a plan to get out of here. I just have to contact some 'special' friends first." I smiled at them sadly. Jace was huddled in a corner, cowering. He looked as chubby and scared as ever, but he kept mumbling about his gaming device.

My step-dad nodded, and hugged my mom tightly as they sat on the floor.

"It may be awhile, though, so don't count on anything soon."

I backed away from the bars and sat in the middle of my cell. I crossed my legs as I started to meditate. I didn't know if it would even work, but I pleaded with as many gods as I knew (which was a lot). I took a deep breath through my nose and out through my mouth.

I concentrated hard on Connor, Travis, Meg, and Lana. Slowly, each of their images materialized in my mind, each of their faces.

I spoke, not aloud, but in my head, the situation I was currently in to my friends' sleeping faces.

_Help! I do not know where this prison is, but the ride over here felt about two hours long. It seems to be abandoned. Don't underestimate an upset and angry Drew. He's as dangerous as he looks._

I let Meg's, Lana's, and Travis's faces dissolve in my mind, leaving their dreams in peace. I allowed myself to linger with Connor's.

_Be careful, Connor. I…._

I was about to say something, but then changed my mind.

_Just be careful, okay? I don't know what I'd do if you died trying to rescue me or something._

As soon as his face disappeared and the last curl of his brown hair was no longer visible, I opened my eyes.

"I really like you," I whispered to myself, finishing the sentence I hadn't told Connor. I sighed as I laid myself down on the cold, cement ground, ready for a peaceful rest, unknowing of what time it was.

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><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I've got to go, I've got a birthday party to go to later today! Buh-bye!<strong>

**_~*J.C*~_  
><strong>


	26. Soon

**Hey! This one's shorter than normal, just cause I wanted to end on a climactic note :) I do hope you all like this story! And if you hadn't noticed, I've changed my pen name from **pjoroxs **to **Teenaged Author**.**

**And I have an announcement! I am currently doing a co-written story** **with** epic LEMON HEAD **called The Light Meets the Darkness. I encourage you all to read it! Guess who's in it? That's right. Jaycee Carter. It's set with a sixteen-year-old Nico, but Jaycee is still fourteen (don't really understand why, but eh well) Connor seems to be the same age as he is here too.****  
><strong>

**So, go read and review that story! It's only got to reviews** **and** epic LEMON HEAD **posted it. :) It gives some hints to what happens in the end in this story (which it is sadly coming to a close soon)**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 26-Soon<p>

Days went by. I hadn't a clue what happened to Faith and Tristan. Hopefully, they were safely hidden off somewhere, where no one would find out that they were from the future. I reached down to my sock where I had conveniently hidden a knife. A very special knife that I had had Nyssa from the Hephaestus Cabin make for me.

I stared at my freezing family in the cell across from me. Jace was half-starving, though he was only starving in his mind. He was heavier than a boy his age should be.

The heavy door at the end of the narrow hallway creaked open. Footsteps came, ringing loud and clear in the empty silence.

Drew knelt down in front of my cell and looked at me with sad eyes. I had to remind myself sometimes that, as hate-twisted as he was at the moment, he was still in there. My big brother who had a big heart. Somewhere, however deeply buried, he was still there.

"I can afford to have you run away again, Jay," He said softly, his voice sounding heartbroken.

I looked at him with cold eyes. "It wasn't your fault. It wasn't their fault. It was mine! Now let our family go."

"Why?" He asked, his heartbroken voice replaced with one layered in disgust. "So they can continue to ignore us? To pretend we aren't even here? It has been too long. They've gone too long without paying the consequences for their mistakes!"

"And you'll get away with kidnap? This is just as bad! What happened to my big brother? The one who didn't care if our family ignored us so long as you had me to talk to? What happened to the care-free guy who'd only fight with his parents, not kidnap them? I want to know where he went, Drew!"

I wiped a stray tear from my cheek. "I don't even know who you _are _anymore. Please. Come back to me Drew. Because if you don't….if you don't, I will be alone. Truly alone."

Drew looked at me, impassive. But even through his mask of stone, I could see the battle raging within him through his eyes. He felt…hurt and conflicted. He felt hatred and love. But most of all, I could tell, he felt betrayal.

"Even with your boyfriend?" He asked quietly. I reached my hand through the bars of the cell and gripped Drew's wrist.

"Whatever makes you think someone can replace my big brother?" I asked as I squeezed his wrist tight. I looked at him and for a second-just one second-he returned to me. But as soon as he did, he was gone again.

"I'm sorry. But I can't let them go," He said quietly, his eyes looking at the floor.

"Then leave me alone," I growled as I let go of his wrist and turned so my back was to him.

He stood up silently, because a minute later, the heavy door shut with a _clang. _

"Please hurry," I whispered to no one.

"Well, how fast do you want us here?" A voice replied. My head snapped up. It felt like it had been years since I heard a voice other than my brother's or my own, when in reality it had been only days. I looked around, but couldn't find the owner.

"Over here!" It called. I crawled to the bars of the cell and looked down the narrow hallway.

"Left….a little to your right…..no sorry, left…..left…..up," I followed the directions of the voice and tilted my head up. "There's my girl! So, about that time?"

I smiled as I looked at Connor's image suspended in mid-air. I'd heard of things like this, called Iris-Messaging.

"The sooner the better! Is Travis with you? And Meg and Lana?"

"Yeah. We think we've got a pinpoint on your location, but it may take us a while to get there."

"Why?"

"I don't know how, but Drew managed to Indiana in two hours. Do you know if he took a plane?"

I shook my head. "I was in a sack. I may or may not have blacked out."

I felt useless. I couldn't give them any leads to where I might possibly be.

"Well, we've got Nico looking around in the area too. He seemed pretty….upset that his friend was missing."

Friend? I didn't even know Nico thought of me as a friend. "Thanks. I…never mind. Remember what I said about Drew. He's confused and hurt and as dangerous as I've ever seen him, but try not to hurt too much?"

"I'll try," Connor gave me a sad smile. "The connection's breaking. We'll see you in a few days!"

I nodded. "Bye! Be safe, Connor! Don't die!" I hollered at the message as it started to fade. I looked over at my parents, who were staring wide-eyed where the message was.

"They're coming to save us. We'll be alright. Just hang on," I told them soothingly. I may not like my mom, or my younger half-brother, but they needed comfort and reassurance and I wasn't going to let them suffer and worry like Drew was willing to do.

The more I thought about it, the less and less Drew seemed like himself. It was like someone was…controlling him. Telling him what to do, what to say, but when I was talking to him, just for a second, he was himself again.

And I wanted him back. Whoever took him was going to give him back. Sooner rather than later.

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><p><strong>So...go read The Light Meets the Darkness! It's good, if I do say so myself ;) Though she's editing some things that I actually wrote and adding stuff too, so just so you know. More of the major romance-y stuff in the 'Jaycee' chapters she put there, haha. <strong>

**_~*J.C*~_  
><strong>


	27. Choices

**Hey! not much time to talk so all i'll say is sorry for the wait. I'll do an epilogue after this and then I'm done with this story. I'll post a poll for whether or not there'll be a sequel. But if there is, it'd be after the HOO series.**

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><p>Chapter 27-Choices<p>

Over the next couple of days, I realized I could hear Drew talking to himself under his breath. I had been refusing to speak to him, to eat anything he'd given me, not that I was that hungry anyways. But because of that, my sense of hearing seemed to have heightened. I heard the noises of rats scuttling across the floor much louder and clearer. And if I concentrated hard enough, I could hear the heartbeats of the others.

"No, it isn't right. Jaycee said so," I heard my brother's voice say under his breath in a sad, heartbroken tone. Then it changed to a more aggressive and angry one. "They ignored you. Made her leave again. She promised she wouldn't! They must pay!"

"But she's my sister," Drew whispered to himself. "She left you," The harsh and cold voice said. It sounded ancient and evil.

"She said it wasn't my fault," Drew insisted, trying to persuade this split personality. "She lies! She left you alone!"

"She left me alone," He whispered angrily. I could hear his knuckles pop as he clenched them into a tight fist. I wish Connor, Nico, and the others would get here sooner….

"Psssst!" A voice said from behind. I jumped and turned, fist clenched and already pulled back, ready to punch the potential threat.

I searched the shadows, seeing nothing, then listened. "Psst!" It called again, and I suddenly recognized the voice.

"Nico?" I asked cautiously, not relaxing the slightest.

"Nah, it's the Easter Bunny. Course its Nico! Do you know anyone else who can shadow travel?"

I rolled my eyes, but I didn't know that Nico could shadow travel and went ahead and acted like it was normal.

"Oh, yeah. Tons!" I said sarcastically, before dropping my fists but staying on high-alert. "Where are the others?"

"Close. Don't worry. We'll get you out of here!" He assured me. I subconsciously glanced back at my family.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," I muttered under my breath before saying louder so Nico could here, "And my family. We got to save them too."

Nico looked taken aback, but he didn't argue. He just nodded and had me fill him in on what's been happening and I had him tell me of progress.

"Something weird's happening back at Camp. I don't know. It just doesn't….feel right. Like something big and bad's about to happen you know?" As he said that, I thought about my latest nightmare. A battle scene it had looked like. I had a feeling about what was coming.

"I know what you mean. Drew's been talking to himself. It's like he's arguing with someone," I confessed. Nico looked confused and as if I may have just confirmed something.

"I better look into it. But first I'll tell Connor and the others your whereabouts. Then I'm going on a quest of my own."

I just nodded, not knowing what else to do. I felt useless sitting in this cell. Like the damsel in distress. I _hated _being the damsel. My anger at my uselessness built up as the seconds ticked by. Eventually, my eyelids grew heavy and fluttered to a close. A dreamless sleep daunted me for hours until I heard my brother roar with rage.

"WHERE IS SHE?!" He screamed; his voice cracked like it did when he was going through puberty. Then it softened. "I don't know…she was here earlier."

It switched again. "This is your fault, you useless, pathetic excuse for a demigod!"

"Please…I-I didn't do _anything_."

"Don't talk back to me! I am your mistress! And you shall do as I tell you! Find the girl! Without her, we will not get hold of the son of Hades and his friends!"

I opened an eyelid. I was exactly where I had been when I fell asleep. I was right in front of Drew, lying on the ground. How could he not see me? Maybe….I'd heard that I could, but….maybe, just maybe….

I stayed still, fearing that if I move I'd be seen. Drew struggling getting the keys to the cell out of his pocket, and his hands shook as he tried to place it in the slot. I waited patiently on the ground as the cell door creaked open and Drew stepped in, conveniently leaving the door open. He always forgot to close the doors. I smiled to myself as he stepped closer. Just a little bit closer and I'd be able to….

Ha! I swung my leg out, hooking my foot around the back of his heel, sending him to the cold, hard cement ground. His head hit the floor with a sickening crack. I didn't have time to feel any sympathy for my kidnapper. I just snatched up the keys he left in his hands and ran to my family's cell. I quickly shoved the key into its place and kicked the door open. My mom ran out of it, dragging Jace with her, Scott hot on her heels. Scott looked back once at Drew before pushing forward towards the door. I heard Drew groan from the place I'd left him.

He gasped, and his voice was hoarse. "Jay! Help me! She's….she's…." His voice changed, and his eyes were no longer a creamy Hershey milk-chocolate anymore. Instead, they were pale, pale eyes that seemed to have no hue. "Run while you still can, girl. Or, better yet, die trying!"

Drew pushed himself to his feet. When he stood upright, he blinked, his eyes returning to color. His hands immediately went to the sides of his head, and his fingers dug into his scalp. "Get out of me! Please!"

"They left you!" The voice hissed. Drew stumbled forward. "No! Get out! Get out!"

I glanced back at the door then to my brother, standing in the middle of a cell half-mad. I rushed to him.

"Drew!"

"Run, girl!" The voice rasped.

"Help…" Drew's voice whispered.

"Drew! You can fight it! Think of happy things! Think of…think of…think of when you found out you weren't completely related to the ass we call our brother, Jace. Or when you found out you could live at camp instead of go home to our so-called family."

"You don't understand…" Drew whimpered. A lone tear rolled slowly down his cheek. Then the voice returned. "It is those memories that keep him going! Anger fuels him! He serves me! It's the wanting for a normal life that feeds his anger! He is my servant!"

My eyes were wide with shock. Drew _wanted _to be related to all of them? And be a normal mortal?

"Who are you?" I asked, not only to the voice, but to my brother.

The voice laughed evilly, but it sounded…sleepy. The door behind me burst open, and Connor, Travis, Meg, and Lana rushed in. Connor and Travis each had celestial bronze swords at the ready, Meg with a dagger, and Lana with some badass looking gun.

"Jaycee!" Connor, Meg, and Lana called. Travis waved frantically for me to back away from my brother, but I didn't move.

"Something's wrong with Drew!" I shouted. "He needs help!" Connor and Travis looked at each other while Meg slowly advanced. Lana came in a wide arc, keeping her aim on Drew. Meg looked into his eyes and how they would switch between his and someone else's. Then, without a word, she backed away and circled behind him. He was about to turn around when Drew clutched his head in pain. Meg advanced quickly, hitting the hilt of her dagger hard against the back of Drew's skull.

He fell to the floor, out cold. We just stared at him, lying there. Then, as if time decided to speed up all of the sudden, we had dragged him outside and Connor was holding my hand for comfort and we continued to just stare at him, waiting for him to wake up. Meg said when he did, he'd _most likely_ be normal again. But then the sunlight glowed brighter, as if it were getting closer, and the air got hotter. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly. When the brightness diminished, I opened my eyes and before us stood a tall, handsome-looking guy with sandy blonde hair, and clear, sky-blue eyes, a cocky smile plastered on his face. Travis and Connor bowed a little.

"Lord Apollo, it's an honor to meet you," Travis stated in a monotone voice. The line sounded rehearsed, as if he said it to every god except maybe Dionysus.

"No need for formalities, Travis Stoll, son of Hermes. I enjoy helping demigods. Especially when it's a job suited for me. Jaycee, my girl, how are you? How's your mom? Man, last time I saw her-"

I shuddered. I did _not _need to hear what was going to come next. "Lord Apollo-er, Dad. Sorry to interrupt, but why are you hear exactly, again?"

Apollo's smile melted and was replaced by a sympathetic look. I knew what was coming next. I shook my head.

"I'm sorry, kiddo. But he asked me to. The old man Zeus gave me permission to, and I think he'd be better off, don't you?"

"What'll happen?" I asked, my eyes started to water, but I blinked back tears, refusing to cry.

"He'll forget everything about the gods. He'll forget about demigods. He'll be placed with a new family. He won't remember you, Jay."

"Can I…see him? Ever?"

"Well, you could, but he wouldn't know you. It was his choice. And now you have one. Do you want to join him?"

I looked back at Meg, whose arms lay limply at her side. Lana, whose gun lay forgotten on the ground. Then there was Connor and Travis, both of whom looked worried, confused, and sad. Connor's grip on my hand tightened, and I knew I'd never be able to let go.

"No," I shook my head. "I can't join him. I wish I could, but I can't."

Apollo nodded in understanding, his smile returning slowly. "Glad to keep you around, kiddo. And don't worry about Drewbie, here. He'll have a good life, I promise you."

"I'm going to keep an eye on him," I state. Apollo chuckled.

"That's a good girl. Well, you guys better be getting back to Camp Half-Blood. I'll see you some other time, Jay, in the near future. I'm sure you'll see it coming." Apollo winked, and the light grew. We all averted our eyes, and once we were able to open them again, we were standing in the middle of Capture the Flag.

"See you," I whispered to the air.

* * *

><p><strong>So, my mom is yelling at me to get off the computer and in the shower, so I'll post later!<strong>

**_~*J.C*~_  
><strong>


	28. Epilogue

**Hello. This is the final chapter to this story. Yes, the _final chapter_. I have posted a poll on my profile (or at least I _think_ I did...) about whether or not there'll be a sequel. Enjoy the final chapter.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or its characters. I do, however, own Jaycee Carter, Drew Carter, Meg Andrews, Lana Austin, etc.**

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><p>Epilogue<p>

I'd pretty much abandoned school. I was thinking of going year-round at Camp half-Blood after this year ended. But I have to finish this year first.

Taking a deep breath I walked into the Mythology classroom. I slowly made my way to the Apollo table, people's eyes following me after I walk past them. When I sat down, everyone but a few were still watching me. Meg faced the board, but would glance over at me every now and then, just to make sure I was still here. I didn't blame her.

Lana sat at the Aphrodite table, listening to the latest gossip. It must've been something about me, because her face was red, and a scowl was on her face, flames ablaze in her eyes. One of the girls at her table looked over at me and whispered to Audrey Plow, and both started laughing.

The Hades table remained empty. I wonder if Nico's new mission was successful. He'd been charged with bringing a particularly powerful half-blood to camp.

Audrey stood from her table and marched over to mine. The couple of people who weren't out sick today scooted away from me.

"So," She snarls, a hip stuck out in a diva pose, "she lives. Unfortunately."

"You're still a jerk. Unfortunately," I glare, my arms crossed as I lean back in my chair.

"Where's your boyfriend in black? Dump you?" Audrey smiled and the Aphrodite table all laughed, with the exception of a still mad Lana. I let out a cold laugh.

"First of all, he's not my boyfriend. Second of all, it wouldn't have been _your _business if we had been dating. So I suggest that you move your skinny little ass back to your table and sit down like a good dog, before I get angry."

She glared, her cheeks bright red. Some of the kids in the class were biting their bottom lips, waiting for what was to come next. Audrey just turned on the heel of her Sperrys and marched back to her seat, but when she sat down she looked over her shoulder and smiled.

"You missed the play. I got the lead and it went off without a hitch!"

I smiled. "How many girls did you have to injure to get there, Audrey? All of them?"

The class couldn't contain any laughter by the time Mrs. A came into the room to start class. She welcomed me back from my long 'family reunion' and 'funeral of my brother'. She gave me her condolences. I just nodded, an impassive look on my face and a pang of guilt in my chest. I didn't like lying to Mrs. A. I didn't want to lie to Mrs. A, especially with lies like those, so easily believed.

I laughed silently to myself as these types of thoughts continued. It was hard to believe, that at one point, I thought I was like them, like these average, everyday mortals.

It had become hard to believe that I once thought I was normal. That _we _thought we were normal.

* * *

><p>I watched him from the booth of the small Nashville café. I casually took a sip of my latte as I acted like I was scanning a magazine. It had been six months since he decided to forget and our dad granted his dying wish. Of course, he and the rest of my mortal family forgot, too. They no longer remember me, but I remember them. I couldn't help but notice the little details about them that changed. Drew's hair turned lighter, and his skin became tanner, and his teeth had yellowed a little, but they were still pretty white and you couldn't tell unless you were staring at them for a long time. He looked a lot more like Scott.<p>

Currently, he was sitting in one of the tall chairs at the tables that, even with his nearing six foot height, his feet only barely brushed the floor. A brunette waitress with a pretty smile and Taylor Swift-like facial features carried a medium-sized coffee to Drew. As soon as they made eye contact I knew. The two stared into the others eyes for minutes on end, Drew's hand over her's as he slowly took the coffee. I couldn't help but smile.

The door dinged open and my eyes flickered to it, as it always did when I watched my brother. It was not a monster that entered the door, though. It was just Connor. I had asked him to come out here with me, just to make sure I didn't do anything stupid, like last time. I shuddered at the thought of last time.

Connor slid into the seat across from me and smiled. He reached across the table and took my fidgeting hand and squeezed it. I heard my dad's voice, whispering: _He'll have a good life, I promise you. _

"Hey," He said, forcing me to look at him while he talked instead of my brother. He let go of my hand and said, "He's fine."

I smiled and nodded. "I know." The waitress reluctantly walked away from Drew and approached our table. She had a bright smile on her face and her cheeks were a rosy color. She looked like she couldn't stop smiling. Her name tag read 'Alanna'.

"Hello," She said. Her voice didn't have that Nashville accent, I noted. She turned to Connor. "Anything I can get you, sir?"

Connor shook his head. "No thanks. I'm good."

"Alanna. That's a pretty name," I told her with a small smile. If she is who I think she's going to be in my brother's new life, I want to be her friend. Alanna smiled and let out a small laugh.

"Alanna's not my name. I'm borrowing this outfit from her. Someone spilt their coffee all over me a few hours ago and Alanna was going on her break, so she lent it to me. My name's Noelle."

I smile a little wider. "Noelle is an even prettier name. I'm Jaycee."

"It's nice to meet you, Jaycee," She smiled and nodded, before she walked away to help another costumer. Connor looked at me and rolled his eyes, but the corners of his lips twitched upward.

"I think we should start heading back to camp now, Jay. Chiron did say a _brief_ visit."

I sigh and say ok. We leave Noelle a tip at the table and I pay for my latte up front. I wish the cashier a good day and exit the little Nashville café with Connor. Entwining our fingers, we quickly walked through the city till we found a more discreet location to call for some pegasi. A pure white Pegasus and a tawny one descended from the sky and whinnied, lowering their heads, beckoning us to get on.

Letting go of his hand, I mounted the white Pegasus and he mounted the other. We ascended into the sky in circles, flying away from the sun in the direction of New York. Before we got too far away, I looked back, trying to spot that little Nashville café without any luck.

And it occurs to me again, how normal my life feels as a demigod and how strange it seemed when I thought about how I once thought I'd been a mortal with only mortal problems to deal with. How funny that thought is, when I look back on it.

And We Thought We Were Normal.

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><p><strong>There you have it. The end of the story. Goodbye for now and check out my other stories!<strong>

_**~*J.C*~**_


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